The  Boy  Who  Knew 
What  The  Birds  Said 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW   YORK   •    BOSTON    •    CHICAGO    •   DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •   SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON    •   BOMBAY    •  CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


Round  and  round  the  Castle  they  went  and  the  Giant  with 
his  strength  was  wearing  out  Feet-in-the- Ashes. 


The  Boy  Who  Knew 
What  The  Birds  Said 

By  Padraic  Colum 

Illustrated  by 
Dugald  Stewart  Walker 


The  Macmillan  Company,  Publishers 
New  York  Mcmxx 


CoPTEIGHT,  1918 

BT  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  October,  1918. 


For  The  Boy  In  The  Bracken 


2058018 


Contents 


PAGE 
13 


How  he  came  to  know  what  the  birds  said . . . 
The  Stone  of  Victory. 

And  how  Feet-in-the-Ashes,  the  Swine- 
herd's Son,  came  to  find  it 21 

The  King  of  the  Birds 51 

Bloom-of- Youth  and  the  Witch  of  the  Elders.     67 
The  Hen-wife's  Son  and  the  Princess  Bright- 
brow  85 

The  Giant  and  the  Birds 113 

The  Sea-Maiden  who  became  a  Sea-Swan. .  .  .    133 
What  the  Peacock  and  the  Crow  Told  Each 

Other 149 

The  Treasure  of  King  Labraid  Lore 163 


List  of  Full  Page  Illustrations 

Frontispiece 

Round  and  Round  the  Castle  they  went,  and 
the  Giant  with  his  strength  was  wearing 

out  Feet-in-the-Ashes 

PAGE 

"  No  bird  will  ever  out-soar  this  flight  of  mine," 

said  the  Eagle 61 

But  just  as  the  Witch  was  dragging  her  to  the 

stone  a  robin  began  to  sing 79 

The  Red  Champion  said,  "  Good  is  the  Cham- 
pion that  the  King  of  this  Land  has  sent 
against  me." 97 

All  flew  from  the  mountain  except  one  bird  and 

he  was  the  greatest  amongst  them  all.  .  .    117 


I  put  it  to  my  lips,  I  drank  it  when  he  took  a 

step  towards  me 141 

O  most  beauteous  of  all  the  birds,  do  you  know 
of  any  arms  by  which  a  hero  can  slay  a 
dragon? 155 

"Ernan  is  Lord,  is  Lord  of  the  Fair  Islands".    173 


The  Boy  Who  Knew 
What  The  Birds  Said 


How  He  Came  to  Know 
What  the  Birds  Said 

rpHERE  is  one  thing  that  all  the 
Birds  are  afraid  of,  and  that  is 
the  thing  that  will  happen  when  the 
Bird  That  Follows  the  Cuckoo  flies 
into  the  Cuckoo's  mouth. 
And  what  will  happen  then,  asks  my  kind  foster- 
child. 

13 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

When  the  Bird  that  Follows  the  Cuckoo  flies 
into  the  Cuckoo's  mouth  the  World  will  come  to  an 
end. 

All  the  Birds  know  that,  but  not  all  the  People 
know  it. 

Well,  one  day  the  Cuckoo  was  sitting  on  a  bush 
and  her  Mouth  was  open.  The  Bird  That  Follows 
the  Cuckoo  flew  straight  at  it.  And  into  it  he  must 
have  flown  only  for  the  Boy.  .  .  . 

The  Boy  was  in  the  tree  and  he  flung  his  cap  at 
the  Cuckoo  and  he  covered  the  Cuckoo  and  the 
Cuckoo's  open  mouth. 

The  Bird  That  Follows  the  Cuckoo  flew  into  the 
Crow's  mouth  instead,  and  the  Crow  gave  that 
bird  a  squeeze,  I  can  tell  you.  The  Cuckoo  pushed 
off  the  Boy's  cap  with  her  wings  and  flew  into  the 

forest. 

All  the  Birds  of  the  King's  Garden  were  there 
at  the  time.  There  were.— 

The  Crow,  the  Woodpecker, 
The  Wren  and  the  Eagle, 

The  Blackbird  and  Swallow, 
14 


HOW  HE  CAME  TO  KNOW 

The  Jackdaw  and  Starling, 
And  the  wonderful  Peacock; 

The  Lapwing  and  Peewit, 

The  bold  Yellowhammer, 

The  bad  Willy-wagtail, 

The  Raven  so  awful, 

And  the  Cock  with  his  Hens; 

Stone-checker,  Hedge-sparrow, 

And  Lint-white  and  Lark, 

The  Tom-tit  and  Linnet, 

And  brisk  little  Sparrow, 
The  King-fisher  too, 

And  my  own  little  Goldfinch. 

All  the  Birds  in  the  King's  Garden  were  over- 
joyed that  the  Bird  that  Follows  the  Cuckoo  did 
not  get  into  the  Cuckoo's  Mouth. 

"What  shall  we  do  for  the  Boy  who  prevented 
the  World  from  coming  to  an  End?"  asked  the 
good-natured  Corncrake.  She  was  there  too, 
but  I  forgot  to  mention  her. 

"Nothing,"  said  the  Willy- wagtail.    "The  Boy 

15 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

who  would  throw  a  cap  would  throw  a  stone.  Do 
nothing  at  all  for  him." 

"I'll  sing  for  him,"  said  the  Goldfinch. 

"I'll  teach  him  what  the  Birds  say,"  said  the 
Crow. 

"If  he  knew  the  Language  of  the  Birds  he  would 
be  like  King  Solomon,"  said  the  Raven. 

"Let  us  make  him  like  Bang  Solomon,"  said 
the  Goldfinch. 

"Yes,  yes,  yes,"  said  all  the  Birds  in  the  King's 
Garden. 

The  Boy  had  not  gone  far  when  the  Crow  flew 
after  him  and  lighted  on  his  shoulder.  The  Crow 
spoke  to  him  in  the  Boy's  own  language.  The 
Boy  was  surprised.  The  Crow  flew  to  a  stand- 
ing stone  and  went  on  speaking  plain  words  to 
him. 

"O,"  said  the  Boy,  "I  didn't  know  you  could 
speak. " 

"Why  shouldn't  I  know  how  to  speak,"  said 
the  Crow,  "haven't  I,  for  a  hundred  years  and 
more,  been  watching  men  and  listening  to  their 

words?     Why  shouldn't  I  be  able  to  speak?" 

16 


HOW  HE  CAME  TO  KNOW 

"And  you  can  speak  well,  ma'am,"  said  the 
Boy,  not  forgetting  his  manners. 

:'You  know  one  language,  but  I  know  many 
languages,"  said  the  Crow,  "for  I  know  what 
People  say,  and  I  know  what  all  the  Birds 
say." 

The  old  Crow  sat  there  looking  so  wise  and  so 
friendly  that  the  Boy  began  to  talk  to  her  at  his 
ease.  And  after  a  while  the  Boy  said  "Ma'am, 
do  you  think  I  could  ever  learn  what  the  Birds 
say?" 

"You  would,  if  you  had  me  to  teach  you," 
said  the  Crow. 

"And  will  you  teach  me,  ma'am?"  said  the  Boy. 

"I  will,"  said  the  Crow. 

Then  every  day  after  that  the  Crow  would  sit 
upon  the  Standing  Stone  and  the  Boy  would  stand 
beside  it.  When  the  Crow  had  eaten  the  boiled 
potato  that  the  Boy  always  brought  she  would 
tell  him  about  the  languages  of  the  different  Birds. 
The  two  were  teaching  and  learning  from  day  to 
day,  and  indeed  you  might  say  that  the  Boy  went 

to  school  to  the  Crow.      He  learnt  the  language 

17 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

of  this  Bird  and  that  Bird,  and  as  he  learnt  their 
languages,  many's  and  many's  the  good  story  he 
heard  them  tell  each  other. 


The  Stone  of  Victory 


The  Stone  of  Victory 


AND  HOW  FEET-IN-THE-ASHES, 
THE  SWINEHERD'S  SON,  CAME 
TO  FIND  IT 

'  TF  we  went  there,  if  we 
went  there,  maybe  we'd 
find  it,"  said  the  Cock-grouse 
to  the  Hen-grouse  as  they  went 
together,  clucking  through  the 
heather. 

"And  if  we  found  it,  if  we 
found  it,  what  good  would  the 
Stone  of  Victory  do  us?"  said 
the  Hen-grouse  to  the  Cock- 
grouse,  answering  him  back. 

"And  what  good  did  the 
Stone  of  Victory  do  to  the 
youth  who  was  called  Feet- 
in-the- Ashes,  and  who  was 
only  the  Swineherd's  Son?" 
said  the  Cock-grouse  to  the 
Hen-grouse. 

:Tell  me,  tell  me,  and  then  I  shall  know,"  said 

21 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

the  Hen-grouse  to  the  Cock-grouse,  answering  him 
back.  They  went  together,  clucking  through  the 
heather  and  the  Boy  who  knew  what  the  Birds 
said  followed  them. 

He  lay  upon  a  rock  and  the  Cock-grouse  and 
the  Hen-grouse  discoursed  below  him,  the  Cock- 
grouse  always  lifting  his  voice  above  the  hen's. 
The  Boy  heard  what  they  said  and  he  remembered 
every  word  of  it.  And,  by  the  tongue  in  my  mouth, 
here  is  the  story  he  heard: — 

"Cluck-ee,  Cluck-ee,  cluck-ee,  cloo,  cloo,  cloo." 
The  King  of  Ireland  stood  outside  the  gate  of  his 
Castle  and  his  powerful  captains  and  his  strong- 
armed  guards  were  all  around  him.  And  one  of 
his  captains  went  to  the  mound  before  him  and 
he  gave  a  shout  to  the  East  and  a  shout  to  the 
West,  and  a  shout  to  the  North  and  a  shout  to 
the  South.  When  the  King  asked  him  why  he 
did  it  the  Captain  said  "I  want  the  four  quarters 
of  the  World  to  know  that  the  King  of  Ireland 
stands  here  with  his  powerful  Captains  and  his 

strong  armed  guards  that  no  one  dare  come  from 

22 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 

the  East  or  West,  the  North  or  the  South  and  lay 
the  weight  of  a  finger  upon  him."  And  when  he 
said  this  the  other  captains  flashed  their  swords 
and  the  guards  clashed  their  shields  and  the  King 
of  Ireland  said  "Well  and  faithfully  am  I  guarded 
indeed  and  luckier  am  I  than  any  other  King  on 
the  earth  for  no  one  can  come  from  the  East  or 
the  West,  the  North  or  the  South  and  lay  the 
weight  of  their  finger  upon  me." 

But  no  sooner  did  he  say  that  than  they  saw 
a  Giant  coming  across  the  hill  and  towards  the 
place  where  they  were  standing.  And  when  the 
Giant  came  to  them  he  lifted  up  his  hand  and  he 
doubled  his  hand  into  a  fist  and  he  struck  the 
King  of  Ireland  full  in  the  mouth  and  he  knocked 
out.  three  of  his  teeth.  He  picked  the  King's  teeth 
up,  put  them  in  his  pouch,  and  without  one  word 
walked  past  them  and  went  down  to  the  sea. 

"Who  will  avenge  the  insult  put  upon  me?" 
said  the  King  of  Ireland,  "and  which  of  my  cap- 
tains will  go  and  win  back  for  me  the  three  best 
teeth  I  had?"  But  not  one  of  his  captains  made 

a  step  after  the  Giant. 

23 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

"I  know  now,"  said  the  King,  "How  well  you 
serve  and  how  well  you  guard  me.  Well,  if  none 
of  you  will  help  me  and  if  none  of  you  will  avenge 
me,  I'll  find  those  who  will.  And  now  I'll  make 
a  proclamation  and  I'll  solemnly  declare  that  who- 
ever avenges  the  insult  offered  to  me,  and,  in  addi- 
tion brings  back  to  me  the  three  that  were  the 
best  teeth  in  my  head,  even  though  he  be  a  servant 
or  the  son  of  a  servant,  I'll  give  him  my  daughter 
in  marriage  and  a  quarter  of  my  kingdom,  and, 
more  than  that,"  said  he,  "I'll  make  him  full 
captain  over  all  my  guards. " 

The  proclamation  was  sent  all  over  the  Castle 
and  in  the  end  it  came  to  the  ears  of  the  Swine- 
herd's Son  who  was  called  Feet-in-the- Ashes. 
And  when  he  heard  it  he  rubbed  the  ashes  out  of 
his  hair  and  he  said  to  his  grandmother — "If  there 
is  anything  in  the  world  I  want  it  is  the  King's 
daughter  in  marriage  and  a  quarter  of  the  King- 
dom. I'll  want  provision  for  my  journey,"  said  he, 
"so,  grandmother,  bake  a  cake  for  me."  "I'll  do 
better  than  that  for  you,  honey,  if  you  are  going 

to  win  back  the  King's  teeth  and  marry  the  King's 

24 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 

daughter,"  said  his  grandmother.  "I  have  a  few 
things  of  my  own  that  no  one  knows  anything 
about,  and  I'll  give  them  to  you  with  your  cake. 
Here,"  said  she,  "is  my  crutch.  Follow  the  Giant's 
tracks  until  you  come  to  the  sea,  throw  the  crutch 
into  the  sea  and  it  will  become  a  boat,  step  into 
the  boat  and  in  it  you  can  sail  over  to  the  Green 
Island  that  the  Giant  rules.  And  here's  this  pot 
of  balsam.  No  matter  how  deep  or  deadly  the 
sword-cut  or  the  spear-thrust  wound  is,  if  you 
rub  this  balsam  over  it  it  will  be  cured.  Here's 
your  cake  too.  Leave  good-luck  behind  you  and 
take  good-luck  with  you,  and  be  off  now  on  your 
journey. " 

"And  why  was  the  youth  called  Feet-in-the- 
Ashes?"  said  the  Hen-grouse  to  the  Cock-grouse. 

He  was  called  Feet-in-the-Ashes  because  he 
had  sat  in  the  chimney-corner  from  the  time 
he  could  stand  upon  two  legs.  And  everybody 
who  called  him  Feet-in-the-Ashes  thought  he 
was  too  lazy  to  do  anything  else.  Well,  he  left 

good-luck    behind    him    and    he    took    good-luck 

25 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

with  him  and  he  started  off  on  his  journey  with 
the  cake,  the  crutch  and  the  cure.  He  followed 
the  Giant's  tracks  until  they  came  down  to  the 
sea.  Into  the  sea  he  flung  his  grandmother's 
crutch.  It  became  a  boat  with  masts  and  sails. 
He  jumped  into  the  boat,  and  the  things  that 
had  to  be  done  in  a  boat  were  done  by  him — 

He  hoisted  the  sails — the  red  sail,  the 
black  sail  and  the  speckled  sail, 

He  gave  her  prow  to  the  sea  and  her  stern 
to  the  land, 

The  blue  sea  was  flashing, 

The  green  sea  was  lashing, 

But  on  they  went  with  a  breeze  that  he  him- 
self would  have  chosen, 

And  the  little  creatures  of  the  sea  sat  up  on 
their  tails  to  watch  his  going. 

and  so  he  went  until  he  came  near  the  Green 
Island  where  Shamble-shanks  the  Giant  who  had 
carried  off  the  three  teeth  of  the  King  of  Ireland 
had  his  Castle  and  his  stronghold. 

He  fastened  his  boat  where  a  boat  should  be 

fastened  and  he  went  through  the  Island  until 

26 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 

he  came  to  a  high  grey  Castle.  No  one  was  about 
it  and  he  went  through  it,  gate,  court  and  hall. 
He  found  a  chamber  where  a  fire  burned  on  the 
hearth-stone.  He  went  to  the  fire  gladly.  He 
looked  around  the  chamber  and  he  saw  three  beds. 
"There's  room  to  rest  myself  here,  at  all  events," 
said  Feet-in-the- Ashes. 

Night  came  on  and  he  left  the  fire  and  got  into 
a  bed.  He  pulled  one  of  the  soft  skins  over  him. 
Just  as  he  was  going  to  turn  on  his  side  to  sleep 
three  youths  came  into  the  chamber.  Feet- 
in-the-Ashes  sat  up  on  the  bed  to  look  at 
them. 

When  they  saw  him  they  began  to  moan  and 
groan  and  when  he  looked  them  over  he  saw  they 
were  all  covered  with  wounds — with  spear-thrusts 
and  with  sword-cuts.  The  sight  of  him  in  the  bed, 
more  than  their  wounds,  made  them  moan  and 
groan,  and  when  he  asked  them  why  this  was  so 
the  first  of  the  three  youths  said : — 

"We  came  here,  the  three  of  us,  to  fight  the 
Giant  Shamble-shanks  and  to  take  from  this  Island 

the  Stone  of  Victory.     We  came  to  this  Castle 

27 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

yesterday  and  we  made  three  beds  in  this  chamber 
so  that  after  the  combat  we  might  rest  our- 
selves and  be  healed  so  that  we  might  be  able  to 
fight  the  Giant  again  to-morrow  or  the  day  after, 
for  we  know  that  we  cannot  win  victory  over 
him  until  many  combats.  Now  we  come  back 
from  our  first  fight  and  we  find  you  in  one  of  the 
beds  we  had  made.  We  are  not  able  to  put  you 
out  of  it.  One  of  us  must  stay  out  of  bed  and  the 
one  that  stays  out  will  die  to-night.  Then  we 
shall  be  only  two  against  the  Giant  and  he  will 
kill  us  when  we  come  to  combat  again."  And 
when  the  first  one  had  said  all  this  the  three  youths 
began  to  moan  and  groan  again. 

Feet-in-the- Ashes  got  out  of  bed.  "You  can 
have  your  rest,  the  three  of  you,"  said  he.  "And 
as  for  me  I  can  sit  by  the  fire  with  my  feet  in  the 
ashes  as  often  as  I  did  before."  The  three  youths 
got  into  the  three  beds  and  when  they  were  in  them 
Feet-in-the-Ashes  took  the  pot  of  balsam  that  his 
grandmother  had  given  him  and  rubbed  some  of 
it  on  each  one  of  them.  In  a  while  their  pain  and 

their  weariness  left  them  and  their  wounds  closed 

28 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 


up.    Then  the  three  youths  sat  up  in  their  beds  and 
they  told  Feet-in-the-Ashes  their  story. 

' '  Cluck-ee,  clue  k-e  e, 
cluck-ee,  cluck,  cluck," 
said  the  Hen-grouse,  "and 
what  was  the  story  they 
told?" 

"Cluck,  cluck,"  said  the 
Cock-grouse,  "wait  until 
you  hear,  cluck,  cluck." 

Said  the  first  of  these  youths.  "On  this  island 
there  is  a  moor,  and  on  that  moor  there  is  a  stone, 
and  that  stone  is  not  known  from  other  stones, 
but  it  is  the  Stone  of  Victory.  The  Giant  Shamble- 
shanks  has  not  been  able  to  find  it  himself,  but 
he  fights  with  all  who  come  here  to  find  it.  To- 
day we  went  to  the  moor.  As  soon  as  we  got  there 
the  Giant  came  out  of  the  Grey  Castle  and  fought 
with  us.  We  fought  and  we  fought,  but  he 
wounded  us  so  sorely  that  we  were  like  to  die  of 
our  wounds.  We  came  back  to  rest  here.  Thanks 
to  your  balsam  we  are  cured  of  our  wounds.  We'll 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

go  to  fight  the  Giant  to-morrow,  and  with  the 
surprise  he'll  get  at  seeing  us  before  him  so  soon 
we  may  be  able  to  overcome  him." 

"And  along  with  the  surprise,  there's  another 
thing  that  will  help  you,"  said  Feet-in-the-Ashes, 
"and  that  is  myself.  I  have  to  fight  the  same  Giant 
Shamble-shanks  and  I  may  as  well  fight  him  in 
company  as  alone." 

"Your  help  will  be  welcome  if  you  have  not  come 
here  to  win  the  Stone  of  Victory." 

"Not  for  the  Stone  of  Victory  I  have  come, 
but  to  win  back  the  three  teeth  that  were  knocked 
out  of  the  King  of  Ireland's  head  and  to  avenge 
the  insult  that  was  offered  to  him." 

"Then  we'll  be  glad  of  your  help,  good  com- 
rade." The  three  youths  got  out  of  their  beds 
and  they  sat  with  Feet-in-the-Ashes  round  the  fire 
and  the  four  spent  a  third  of  the  night  in  pleas- 
ant story-telling,  and  slumber  nor  weariness  did 
come  near  them  at  all. 

"Cluck,  cluck,  cluck,"  said  the  Hen-grouse, 

"Say   no   more,"    said  the    Cock-grouse,    "for 

30 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 

now    I'm    coming   to   what's    wonderful    in    my 
story — " 

The  four  youths  were  seated  round  the  fire 
when  a  little  man  came  into  the  Chamber.  He 
carried  a  harp  in  his  hands.  He  bowed  low  to 
each  of  the  four  of  them.  "I  am  MacDraoi, 
the  Giant's  Harper,"  he  said,  "and  I  have  come 
to  play  music  for  you."  "Not  one  tune  do  we 
want  to  hear  from  you,"  said  Feet-in-the- Ashes. 
"Whether  you  want  it  or  not,  one  you  will  hear," 
said  the  Harper,  "and  that  tune  is  the  Slumber 
Tune.  I  shall  play  it  for  you  now.  And  if  the 
whole  world  was  before  me  when  I  play  it,  and  if 
every  one  in  it  had  the  pains  of  deep  wounds,  the 
playing  on  my  harp  would  make  each  and  every 
one  of  them  fall  into  a  slumber."  "That  tune 
we  must  not  hear,"  said  the  first  of  the  three 
youths,  "for  if  we  fall  into  a  slumber  the  Giant 
will  see  to  it  that  we  shall  never  awaken." 

MacDraoi,  the  Giant's  Harper  put  his  harp  to 
his  chest  and  he  began  to  play.  Slumber  came  on 

the  eyelids  of  the  four  who  were  at  the  fire.    Three 

31 


sprang  up,  but  one  stayed  on  his  bench  dead-sound- 
fast  asleep.  One  yawned  and  fell  down  on  the 
floor.  One  of  the  two  that  remained  went  to- 
wards the  Harper,  but  on  his  way  he  fell  across  a 
bed  and  he  remained  on  it.  Then,  out  of  the  four, 
only  one,  Feet-in-the-Ashes,  was  left  awake. 

The  Harper  played  on.  Feet-in-the-Ashes  put 
his  fingers  in  his  mouth  and  commenced  to  gnaw 
them.  He  gnawed  the  first  two  fingers  down  to 
their  joints.  But  still  his  mouth  kept  open  in  a 
yawn  and  still  the  slumber  kept  heavy  on  his  eye- 
lids. He  gnawed  his  third  and  his  little  finger. 
Then  he  put  his  right  hand  in  his  mouth  and  he 
bit  at  his  thumb  and  he  bit  so  sharply  that  his 
senses  nearly  all  came  back  to  him.  With  a  kick 
he  knocked  the  harp  out  of  the  Harper's  hands. 
He  caught  MacDraoi  then  and  turned  him  head 
below  heels  and  left  him  hanging  by  his  feet  from 
a  beam  across  the  chamber.  Then  he  went  straight 
through  the  hall  and  out  of  the  Castle. 

A  wet  breeze  was  blowing  and  whatever  sleep 
was  on  his  eye  it  blew  away.  He  walked  on  with 

the  dark  clouds  of  the  night  going  behind  him  and 

32 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 

the  bright  light  of  the  day  growing  before  him. 
"I'll  turn  back,"  said  he,  "when  I  hear  a  cock 
crowing,  and  whatever  I  find  beside  me  then  I'll  take 
with  me  to  remind  myself  of  where  I  have  been." 

He  found  himself  on  a  moor  and  he  walked  on 
until  he  was  far  on  it.  A  cock  crew.  "Time 
to  turn  back,"  said  Feet-in-the- Ashes.  He  looked 
round  to  see  what  he  might  bring  with  him  and  he 
saw  on  the  ground  a  round  stone. 

"A  round  stone?"  said  the  Hen-grouse. 

"Yes,"  said  the  Cock-grouse,  "a  round  black 
stone.  He  took  it  up,  that  round  black  stone,  and 
he  went  back  to  the  Castle,  hungry  for  his  break- 
fast." 

In  the  Castle  Chamber  the  three  youths  were 
still  slumbering,  one  on  the  bench,  one  on  the 
floor  and  one  in  a  bed  and  MacDraoi  the  Harper 
was  still  hanging  by  his  feet  from  the  beam  across 
the  Chamber.  "Lift  me  down  from  this,  good 
lad,"  said  the  Giant's  Harper. 

"I    will,"   said    Feet-in-the- Ashes,    "when    my 

three  companions  awaken." 

33 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

"They  won't  awaken,"  said  MacDraoi  the 
Harper. 

"Then  you  can  hang  there,"  said  Feet-in-the- 
Ashes. 

"They  won't  awaken,"  said  MacDraoi,  "until 
I  cause  them  to  awaken,  and  I  shall  cause  them 
to  awaken  if  you  lift  me  down  from  this." 

"Will  you  promise  by  your  head,"  said  Feet-in- 
the-Ashes. 

"By  my  head  I  promise,"  said  the  Giant's 
Harper. 

Then  Feet-in-the-Ashes  lifted  the  Harper  down 
from  the  rafters  and  set  him  upon  his  legs.  Mac- 
Draoi took  up  the  harp  and  he  pulled  the  strings 
back-ways.  The  notes  he  drew  out  were  so  piercing 
that  first  one  and  then  another  and  then  a  third  of 
the  three  youths  wakened  up.  Then,  when  they 
were  on  their  feet  MacDraoi,  the  Giant's  Harper, 
slipped  out  of  the  house  and  went  away.  What 
happened  to  the  Harper  after  that  no  one  knows. 

"Cluck,  cluck,"  said  the  Hen-grouse,  "and  what 

did  they  do  after  that?" 

34 


"The  next  thing  they  had  to  do,"  said  the  Cock- 
grouse,  drawing  himself  up,  "was  to  fight.  Yes, 
my  lady,  to  fight."  The  Hen-grouse  drooped  her 
head  and  said  no  more,  and  the  Cock-grouse  went 
on  valiantly — 

Swords  they  drew  out — the  three  youths  who 
were  with  Feet-in-the-Ashes.  They  sharpened 
these  swords.  They  marched  off  towards  the  moor 
with  the  swords  in  their  hands.  Feet-in-the-Ashes 
had  no  sword.  All  he  had  in  his  hand  was  a  holly- 
stick. 

When  they  came  in  sight  of  the  Grey  Castle 
they  saw  the  Giant  come  rushing  out  of  the  gate. 
He  was  clad  all  in  iron  and  he  had  a  sword  in  one 
hand  and  a  spear  in  the  other.  The  four  youths 
spread  themselves  out  so  that  they  might  be  able 
to  close  round  the  Giant.  But  for  all  his  bigness 
the  Giant  was  quick  enough.  He  struck  one  of 
them  with  his  spear  and  brought  him  down  on  his 
knees.  He  struck  the  other  with  his  sword  and 
brought  him  down  on  his  side.  He  struck  the 
other  with  his  iron-covered  hand  and  brought 

him    down    on    his    back.     And    all    that    was 

35 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

left  now  was  Feet-in-the-Ashes  with  his  holly- 
stick. 

What  could  a  youth  with  a  holly-stick  in  his 
hand  do  against  a  Giant  that  had  a  spear  and  a 
sword  in  his  hands  and  was  besides  that  all  covered 
with  iron?  Feet-in-the-Ashes  turned  and  ran. 
He  ran  towards  the  Castle  and  went  round  it. 
And  when  he  was  at  the  east  side  the  Giant  was 
at  the  North  and  when  he  was  at  the  south  the 
Giant  was  at  the  East.  Round  and  round  the 
Castle  they  went  and  the  Giant  with  his  strength 
and  his  quickness  was  wearing  out  Feet-in-the- 
Ashes. 

Feet-in-the-Ashes  wanted  something  to  fling 
at  him.  He  took  the  stone  out  of  his  pocket — 
the  round  black  stone.  He  held  it  in  his  hand. 
He  made  three  circles  in  the  air  with  it.  He  flung 
the  stone.  It  struck  the  Giant  on  the  breast  and 
the  iron  rang  as  the  stone  struck  it.  Down  fell  the 
Giant.  Feet-in-the-Ashes  ran  off  to  where  his 
companions  lay.  Many  times  he  looked  back  but 
he  did  not  see  the  Giant  following  him.  The 

three  youths  were  lying  in  their  wounds  and  in 

36 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 

their  pain.  Feet-in-the  Ashes  took  out  his  pot  of 
balsam  and  rubbed  them  all  over.  Their  wounds 
healed.  First  one  stood  up  and  then  the  second 
stood  up  and  then  the  third  stood  up  and  the 
three  were  whole  and  well.  "  Where  is  the  Giant?  " 
each  of  them  asked. 

"Lying  where  he  fell,"  said  Feet-in-the- Ashes. 

"And  who  threw  him  down?"  said  the  first 
of  the  youths. 

"I  threw  him  down  with  a  cast  of  a  stone," 
said  Feet-in-the- Ashes. 

"Let  us  go  and  see,"  said  the  second  of  the 
youths.  They  went  towards  the  west  side  of  the 
Grey  Castle  like  men  following  a  bear  who  might 
turn  on  them.  The  Giant  was  lying  still.  "He 
is  dead,"  said  one,  "He  is  dead  indeed,"  said  an- 
other. "He  is  dead  forever,"  said  a  third.  "He 
is  dead  by  the  cast  of  my  stone,"  said  Feet-in- 
the- Ashes. 

They  went  up  to  where  the  Giant  was  and 
looked  all  over  him.  "There  is  the  stone  that 
overthrew  him,"  said  one  of  the  youths,  "that 

round  black  stone.    Where  did  you  get  it?" 

37 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

"On  the  moor,"  said  Feet-in-the-Ashes. 

"On  the  moor,"  said  the  others  looking  at  him. 

"Yes,"  said  Feet-in-the-Ashes,  "Picked  it  up 
this  morning  on  the  moor  just  as  the  cock  crew." 

One  of  the  three  youths  took  the  round  black 
stone  in  his  hand.  "I'll  bring  the  stone  with 
me,"  said  he.  "We'll  go  into  the  Castle  now  and 
see  what  our  finding  there  will  be." 

They  went  into  the  Castle.  The  three  youths 
told  Feet-in-the-Ashes  they  would  help  him  to 
find  what  he  had  come  to  seek — the  three  teeth 
out  of  the  head  of  the  King  of  Ireland.  They 
searched  and  they  searched  all  over  the  Castle. 
At  last  one  of  them  opened  an  iron  press  and  there 
on  a  shelf  was  a  silver  cup  and  in  the  cup  were  three 
teeth.  Feet-in-the-Ashes  knew  they  were  what 
he  had  come  for.  He  left  the  cup  beside  him. 

They  took  provisions  from  the  Giant's  store, 
put  them  on  the  table  and  began  to  eat.  But 
first  one  and  then  another  and  then  the  third  of 
the  three  youths  made  an  excuse  and  left  the 
table.  Feet-in-the-Ashes  went  on  with  his  break- 
fast. Then  he  left  the  Castle  to  look  for  the  three 

38 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 

youths  that  had  been  his  companions.  He  did 
not  find  them.  He  went  down  to  the  sea-shore. 
He  saw  his  boat  and  the  sails  were  raised  on  it. 
In  the  boat  were  the  three  youths  and  they  were 
making  ready  to  put  out  to  sea.  Feet-in-the- 
Ashes  shouted  to  them.  Then  one  of  the  youths 
came  to  the  side  of  the  deck  and  spoke  back 
to  him. 

"You  found  the  Stone  of  Victory  without 
knowing  it,"  said  he,  "and  you  let  us  take  it  in 
our  hands.  Now  we  cannot  give  it  back  to  you 
for  our  lives  depend  on  our  keeping  it  and  bring- 
ing it  away.  And,"  said  he,  "we  fear  to  stay  on 
the  land  with  you  because  you  have  such  luck  that 
you  could  take  the  Stone  from  us.  The  boat  we 
came  in  is  gone.  We  take  your  boat  and  we  think 
that  you  have  such  luck  that  you  will  find  an- 
other way  of  getting  off  the  island.  Remember 
that  what  you  came  for  was  not  the  Stone  of 
Victory  but  the  King's  teeth,  and  we  helped  to 
find  them  for  you." 

They  had  hoisted  the  sails  and  now  a  wind  came 

and  the  boat  that  was  from  his  grandmother's 

39 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

crutch  was  blown  out  of  the  harbour  and  Feet-in- 
the-Ashes  was  left  without  any  companion  on 
the  Island. 

"Cluck,  cluck,  cluck,"  said  the  Hen-grouse, 
"he  found  the  Stone  of  Victory,  but  what  good 

were  his  findings  to 
him   when   he    didn't 
know    what    he     had 
found  and  he  let  it  be 
taken  from  him?" 
"But  if  he  hadn't  to  find  it  he  couldn't  have 
slam  the  Giant  and  taken  the  cup  out  of  the  iron 
cupboard — that  much  good  the  Stone  of  Victory 
did  him,"  said  the  Cock-grouse. 

"I'm  sorry  to  think  that  that's  all  he  got  from 
the  Stone  of  Victory,"  said  the  Hen-grouse. 

"Well,  that's  all  he  got  from  it,  and  be  quiet 
now  till  I  tell  you  the  rest  of  the  story,"  said  the 
Cock-grouse. 

He  went  into  the  courtyard  of  the  Grey  Castle 

and  he  found  there  a  great  eagle  that  was  chained 

40 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 

to  a  great  rock.  The  eagle  came  towards  him  as 
far  as  the  chain  would  let  him.  "Feed  me," 
said  the  eagle. 

"Will  you  carry  me  to  Ireland's  ground  if  I 
feed  you?"  said  Feet-in-the-Ashes. 

"If  you  feed  me  every  time  I  open  my  mouth, 
I  will,"  said  the  eagle. 

"That  I'll  try  to  do,  good  eagle,"  said  Feet- 
in-the-Ashes. 

He  went  through  courtyard  and  pen -fold  but 
not  a  sheep  nor  a  pig  nor  a  bullock  could  he  find. 
It  seemed  as  if  he  would  not  be  able  to  find  meat 
for  the  eagle  after  all.  He  went  down  to  the  sea- 
shore and  he  came  upon  a  pool  filled  with  thin 
bony  fish  called  skates.  He  took  a  basket  of 
these  and  put  it  on  his  back.  He  came  back  to 
the  courtyard  and  he  unlocked  the  chain  that 
held  the  eagle. 

"Feed  me,"  said  the  eagle,  and  he  opened 
his  mouth. 

"Close  your  eyes  and  I'll  fill  you  mouth,"  said 
Feet-in-the-Ashes . 

The  eagle  closed  his  eyes.     Feet-in-the-Ashes 

41 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

flung  a  score  of  skates  into  his  mouth.  "Hard 
meat,  hard  meat,"  said  the  eagle,  but  he  gulped 
them  down.  Feet-in-the-Ashes,  holding  the 
cup  in  his  hands  and  carrying  the  basket  of 
skates  on  his  back,  put  himself  between  the 
wings  of  the  eagle.  The  eagle  flew  up  and  over 
the  Grey  Castle  and  faced  for  the  plain  of  the 
sea. 

They  travelled  from  the  morning  light  until 
the  full  noontide.  The  eagle  opened  his  mouth 
again.  Feet-in-the-Ashes  put  nothing  into  it. 
The  eagle  finding  nothing  in  his  mouth  dropped 
down  to  the  sea. 

"Close  you  eyes,"  said  Feet-in-the-Ashes,  "and 
I'll  fill  your  mouth."  The  eagle  closed  his  eyes 
and  Feet-in-the-Ashes  put  another  score  of  skates 
into  his  mouth.  The  eagle  gulped  them  all  down. 
"Whenever  I  open  my  mouth  you  will  have  to 
feed  me,"  he  said.  Feet-in-the-Ashes  did  not 
like  to  hear  this,  for  a  score  more  of  skates  were 
all  that  was  left. 

The  eagle  rose  up  again  and  on  and  on  he  flew 

until  the  "night  was  coming  over  the  water.     He 

42 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 

opened  his  mouth  again.  Feet-in-the- Ashes  put 
in  five  more  skates.  The  eagle  kept  his  mouth 
open  and  said  "Feed  me." 

There  was  nothing  to  be  done  then  but  to  put 
in  the  rest  of  the  skates.  Feet-in-the-Ashes  flung 
them  all  in,  and  the  eagle  rose  up  and  flew  and 
they  travelled  while  there  was  darkness  on  the 
water,  and  when  the  sun  rose  again  Feet-in-the- 
Ashes  saw  they  were  flying  over  the  land  of  Ire- 
land. The  eagle  opened  his  mouth.  Feet-in-the- 
Ashes  had  nothing  to  put  into  it.  "Fly  on, 
good  eagle,"  said  he,  "and  leave  me  down  at  the 
King's  Castle."  "Feed  me,"  said  the  eagle.  "I 
will  give  you  what  you  never  had  before — a  whole 
bullock — when  we  come  to  the  King's  Castle." 
"Cows  far  off  have  long  horns,"  said  the  eagle 
mocking  him.  With  that  he  flung  Feet-in-the- 
Ashes  off  his  back. 

Sore  would  his  fall  have  been  if  it  had  been  on 
any  other  place  but  a  soft  bog.  On  the  softest 
of  soft  bogs  he  fell.  He  made  a  hole  in  the  ground, 
but  no  bone  in  his  body  was  broken  and  he  still 

held  the  cup  in  his  hands.     He  rose  up  covered 

43 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

with  the  mud  of  the  bog,  and  he  started  off  for 
the  King's  Castle. 


"Cluck,  cluck,"  said  the  Hen-grouse,  "and  did 
he  not  go  to  see  his  grandmother  at  all?  " 

"If  he  did  it's  not  in  the  story,"  said  the  Cock- 
grouse.  "That  very  day,  as  I  would  have  you 
know,  the  King  was  standing  outside  the  gate 
of  his  Castle  with  his  powerful  captains  and  his 


strong-armed     guards^ 
year    it    is   to-day,' 
the  Giant  came  and 
mouth,       knocking 
ing    away    three 
and   since 
have  had  nei- 
nor  prosper- 
you  know,' 
'that    my 
and  a  quar- 
Kingdom  is 
one  who 
the     in- 


around  him.  'A 
said  the  King, '  since 
struck  me  in  the 
out  and  tak- 
of  my  teeth, 
that  day  I 
ther  health 
ity.  'And 
said  he, 
daughter 
ter  of  my 
to  go  to  the 
will  avenge 
suit  and 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 

bring  back  my  three  teeth.'  'Such  and  such  a 
thing  prevented  me  from  going,'  said  one  of  his 
Captains,  'but  now  that  so  and  so  is  done,  I  can 
go  and  avenge  the  insult  offered  to  you.'  'So  and 
so  kept  me  from  going,'  said  another  of  the  Cap- 
tains, '  but  now  that  such  and  such  a  thing  is  done 
I  can  go  to-morrow  and  bring  you  back  your  three 
teeth.'  'I  am  tired  of  hearing  you  all  talk,'  said 
the  King,  'and  it's  my  belief  that  my  teeth  will 
be  lost  and  my  daughter  unwedded  till  the  day  of 
doom.'" 

It  was  then  that  Feet-in-the-Ashes  appeared 
before  them,  "Good  health  to  you,  King,"  said 
he. 

"Good  health  to  you,  good  man,"  said  the 
King,  "and  what,  may  I  ask,  have  you  come 
here  for?" 

He  was  covered  with  the  feathers  of  the  eagle 
and  the  mud  of  the  bog,  and,  as  you  may  be  sure, 
the  King  and  the  captains  and  the  guards  looked 
sourly  at  him. 

"I  have  come  first  of  all,  King,"  said  he,  "to 

give  you  advice." 

45 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

"And  what  is  your  advice?"  asked  the  King. 

"My  advice  to  you  is  that  you  send  away  all 
these  you  have  around  you — your  captains  and 
your  guards — and  that  you  turn  them  into  dog- 
boys  or  horse-boys  or  anything  else  in  which 
they  would  give  useful  service,  for  as  they  are 
here,  they  can  neither  serve  nor  guard  you." 

"All  that  may  be  true,"  said  the  King,  "but 
what  right  have  you  to  say  it?  " 

Feet-in-the-Ashes  said  nothing  but  he  held  the 
cup  up  to  the  King  and  the  King  saw  three  teeth 
in  it  and  he  took  them  out  and  placed  them  in  his 
mouth  and  the  teeth  went  into  their  places  and 
there  firmly  they  stayed. 

Then  Feet-in-the-Ashes  told  how  he  had  gone 
to  the  Green  Island  and  how  he  had  avenged 
the  insult  offered  to  the  king  and  how  he  had 
got  what  he  had  gone  to  search  for.  Then  he  de- 
manded the  King's  daughter  in  marriage  and  a 
quarter  of  the  Kingdom,  and  both  were  made  over 
to  him  on  the  spot.  As  for  the  powerful  captains 
and  the  strong-armed  guards,  some  of  them  were 

made  horse-boys  and  some  were  made  dog-boys 

46 


THE  STONE  OF  VICTORY 

and  Feet-in-the-Ashes  was  made  Captain  over  the 
new  guards.  When  he  came  to  rule  a  quarter  of 
the  Kingdom  he  was  given  a  horse  and  made  a 
duke  and  he  was  called  by  a  better  name  than 
Feet-in-the-Ashes.  But  what  that  name  was  I 
don't  remember  now. 

"Cluck,  cluck,  cluck,"  said  the  Hen-grouse,  "and 
did  he  go  to  visit  the  grandmother  at  all?  " 

"If  he  did,"  said  the  Cock-grouse,  "That's 
another  story,  and  if  it  was  ever  told  I  don't 
remember  it.  Pray  go  to  the  right,  my  lady,  for 
I'm  hungry  for  the  sweet  buds  of  the  heather." 


The  King  of  the  Birds 


The  King  of  the  Birds 


thirteen  little  wrens  sat 
on  the  Apple-yard  wall  in 
the  King's  Garden  and  their 
mother  was  there  to  teach  them 
to  fly.  One  called  them  the 
little  wrens,  but  really  each  one 
was  as  big  as  their  mother. 
She  had  a  tail,  however,  that 
was  most  cunningly  cocked  and 
they  had  no  tails,  and  the  con- 
sequence was  that  when  they 
made  their  little  flights  they 
always  went  sideways.  More- 
over, their  beaks  were  still  yel- 
low -and  wide  and  open  and 
this  is  always  a  sign  of  the 
young  bird. 

"All  I  ask  of  you,"  said  the 

mother,  "is  that  when  you  go  into  the  World  you 

51 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

remember  that  you  are  the  Children  of  the  King  of 
the  Birds." 

"Now  why  does  our  Mother  call  us  the  Children 
of  the  King  of  the  Birds?"  said  one  little  wren  to 
the  other.  "I  think  we're  really  very  small.  And 


I  think  our  Mother  is  very  small.  And  there's  our 
Father  behind  that  ivy-leaf  and  he's  very  small  too." 
"And  wherever  you  go,  be  sure  to  conduct 
yourselves  like  the  Children  of  the  King  of  the 
Birds,"  said  the  Mother. 

"It's  because  we  were  reared  in  such  a  fine  nest," 

52 


THE  KING  OF  THE  BIRDS 

said  another  little  wren.  "No  other  birds  in  the 
world  had  ever  a  finer  nest  than  we  have  had. 
That's  the  reason  we're  called  the  Children  of  the 
King  of  the  Birds." 

"Men  call  the  Wren  the  King  of  the  Birds," 
said  the  Father  Wren,  as  he  flew  up  on  a  tree, 
"and  surely  men  ought  to  know  who  is  the  King 
of  the  Birds. " 

"Why  do  men  call  the  Wren  the  King  of  the 
Birds?"  said  the  little  wrens. 

"I  will  tell  you."  said  the  Mother,  "As  we  fly 
from  the  wall  to  the  tree,  and  from  the  tree  back 
to  the  wall,  I  will  tell  you  why  men  honor  the  wren 
as  the  King  of  the  Birds. " 

She  spent  a  whole  day  telling  the  little  wrens 
the  story  and  the  Boy  Who  Knew  What  the  Birds 
Said  was  there,  and  he  heard  the  whole  of  it. — 

The  King  of  the  Hither-side  of  the  Mountain 
conquered  the  two  villages  of  Half-a-Loaf  and 
Windy-Gap,  and  the  very  day  he  conquered 
he  ordered  the  two  Headmen  to  come  before  him. 

"You  two  Headmen  are  to  see  that  your  villages, 

53 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

Half-a-Loaf  and  Windy-Gap,  send  me  my  right- 
ful tribute,"  said  the  King  to  them. 

"There  isn't  much  we  can  send.  ..."  said  the 
Headman  of  Half-a-Loaf . 

"A  string  of  salmon,"  said  the  Headman  of 
Windy-Gap. 

"A  basket  of  plover's  eggs,"  said  the  Headman 
of  Half-a-Loaf. 

"No,"  said  the  King,  "the  tribute  that  each 
of  your  villages  must  send  me  is  the  King  of  the 
Birds." 

The  two  Headmen  went  back  to  their  villages, 
and  that  very  day  each  told  at  the  council  what 
tribute  the  King  had  ordered  them  to  send.  "The 
King  of  the  Birds, "  said  the  people  of  Half-a-Loaf, 
"That's  the  Eagle  surely."  "The  King  of  the 
Birds,"  said  the  people  of  Windy-Gap.  "What 
Bird  might  that  be?  We'll  have  to  give  thought 
to  this." 

The  people  of  Windy-Gap  thought  about  it  and 
thought  about  it,  but  the  people  of  Half-a-Loaf 
declared  there  was  no  doubt  at  all  about  it — the 

Eagle  was  the  King  of  the  Birds.    And  while  the 

54 


THE  KING  OF  THE  BIRDS 

people  of  Windy-Gap  were  thinking  and  ponder- 
ing the  people  of  Half-a-Loaf  were  sending  their 
young  men  off  to  catch  an  eagle. 

But  an  eagle  is  a  hard  fowl  to  catch,  and  the 
people  of  Half-a-Loaf  found  they  had  to  send  all 
of  their  young  men  out  and  to  send  them  out 
every  day.  And  the  young  men  climbed  high  hills 
and  stony  ditches,  and  they  searched  the  east 
and  they  hunted  the  west;  they  went  out  at  sun- 
rise and  they  came  back  at  sunset,  but  never  an 
eagle  did  they  bring  with  them. 

"It  may  be  that  the  Eagle  is  the  King  of  the 
Birds,"  said  the  people  of  Windy-Gap,  "but  we 
had  better  consider  it. " 

They  thought  about  it  from  sunrise  to  sunset; 
they  thought  about  it  while  they  plowed  their 
fields  and  sowed  them,  while  they  spun  their  cloth 
and  made  their  coats,  while  they  mended  their 
nets  and  mended  their  shoes,  while  they  thatched 
their  roofs  and  planted  their  apple-trees. 

And  in  Half-a-Loaf  there  was  few  left  to  plow 
the  fields  and  sow  them,  to  spin  cloth  and  to  make 

coats,  to  mend  nets  and  to  mend  shoes,  to  thatch 

55 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

roofs  and  to  plant  apple-trees — there  was  few  left 
to  do  these  things  for  all  the  young  men  were  out 
on  the  mountain  hunting  for  an  eagle. 

"The  people  of  Windy-Gap  will  be  ruined," 
said  the  people  of  Half-a-Loaf,  "they  have  done 
nothing  yet  to  catch  the  Eagle.  When  the  King 
gets  no  tribute  from  them  he'll  come  down  and 
sell  them  and  their  village.  Call  the  young  men 
back  that  have  gone  into  the  fields  to  work  and 
send  them  up  the  mountain  again." 

At  last  the  people  of  Half-a-Loaf  caught  their 
Eagle — a  great  golden  Eagle  he  was.  They  built 
for  him  a  shed  and  they  fed  him  on  what  lambs 
they  had  that  year. 

"We're  safe  anyway,"  said  the  people  of  Haif- 
a-Loaf, "but  the  unfortunate  folk  in  Windy-Gap 
have  lost  their  chance.  They'll  not  have  time  to 
catch  an  eagle  now. " 

The  time  was  coming  near  when  the  two 
villages  would  have  to  send  their  tribute  to  the 
King. 

"We  have  our  Eagle,"  said  the  people  of  Haif- 
a-Loaf, "But  O,  Bad  Fortune!  we  have  hardly 

56 


THE  KING  OF  THE  BIRDS 

a  crop  growing.  This  will  be  a  hard  year  for  us 
— we  havn't  lambs  to  grow  into  sheep  even. 

"We  have  our  crops,"  said  the  people  of  Windy- 
Gap,  "but,  Bad  Cess  to  it!  What  are  we  to  do 
about  paying  our  tribute  to  the  King?" 

And  still  they  couldn't  decide  whether  it  was 
the  Eagle  or  the  Cuckoo  or  the  Woodpecker  that 
was  King  of  the  Birds.  They  were  still  con- 
sidering it  when  the  King's  Messenger  came  to  bid 
them  come  with  their  tribute  to  the  King's  Castle. 

What  were  the  people  of  Windy-Gap  to  do? 
They  searched  round  and  about  but  no  bird  at  all 
could  they  find.  And  then  as  he  was  being  marched 
off  the  Headman  put  his  hand  under  the  thatch 
of  his  house  and  took  out  a  Wren  that  was  shelter- 
ing there.  He  put  the  Wren  under  his  hat  and 
went  off  with  the  King's  Messenger. 

And  there,  before  him  on  the  way  to  the  Bang's 
Castle  was  the  Headman  of  Half-a-Loaf.  The 
riders  of  the  village  were  with  him  and  they  bore 
their  golden  Eagle  most  triumphantly. 

"Give  to  my  Falconer  the  King  of  the  Birds," 

said  the  King. 

57 


The  Headman  of  Half-a-Loaf  presented  the 
Eagle. 

"It  is  well,"  said  the  King,  "and  where  have 
you,"  said  he  to  the  Headman  of  Windy-Gap, 
"bestowed  the  King  of  the  Birds?" 

The  Headman  put  his  hand  under  his  hat 
and  handed  over  the  Wren  to  the  King's  Fal- 
coner. 

"Tush,"  said  the  King,  "Why  do  you  call  this 
the  King  of  the  Birds?" 

The  Headman  of  Windy-Gap  was  going  to  say 
"Because  his  family  is  great,"  but  he  said  instead 
"Because  he  flies  the  highest,  my  lord." 

"If  it  be  truth  it's  unknown  to  me,"  said  the 
King,  "but  it  shall  be  tried  out." 

Then  said  he  to  the  Royal  Falconer,  "Let  the 
Eagle  and  the  Wren  soar  together.  And  when  the 
Eagle  outsoars  the  Wren  it  shall  be  proved  that 
the  Headman  of  Windy-Gap  is  a  catiff,  and  his 
village  and  everyone  in  it  will  be  sold  to  the  Sara- 
cens. But  if  it  so  happens  that  the  Wren  outsoars 
the  Eagle,  the  tribute  sent  from  the  village  of 

Windy-Gap  must  be  accepted." 

58 


THE  KING  OF  THE  BIRDS 

The  Eagle  and  the  Wren  rose  from  the  same 
perch  and  soared  up  together.  Up  and  up  the 
Eagle  went.  "So  far  my  father  went,  but  I  shall 
go  farther,"  said  the  Eagle.  Higher  and  higher 
he  rose.  "So  far  my  grandfather  went  but  I  shall 
go  farther."  Farther  and  farther  he  soared.  "So 
far  went  my  great-grandfather,  and  no  eagle  again 
will  fly  so  high. "  His  wings  were  stiff  and  tired. 
"No  bird  will  ever  out-soar  this  flight  of  mine," 
said  the  Eagle. 

He  went  to  close  his  wings  so  that  he  might  rest 
them  as  he  went  down.  But  as  he  did  the  Wren 
came  from  under  his  wings. 

Up  went  the  Wren,  down  went  the  Eagle.  Up 
and  up  went  the  Wren.  He  had  been  resting  while 
the  Eagle  had  been  flying,  and  now  he  was  able 
to  soar  past  the  point  the  Eagle  had  reached  at 
his  dead-best. 

The  Eagle  flew  down  and  lighted  on  the  Fal- 
coner's perch.  "Has  he  flown  high,  Falconer?" 
asked  the  King.  "No  bird  has  flown  so  high," 
said  the  Falconer.  "By  the  rime  on  his  wings  he 

has  gone  into  the  line  of  frost." 

59 


"The  Eagle  is  King  of  the  Birds  and  no  one  can 
deny  it,"  said  the  King.  :'The  village  of  Windy- 
Gap  has  not  sent  me  my  tribute." 

"Mercy,"  said  the  Headman  of  Windy- 
Gap. 

"The  village  and  all  in  it  shall  be  sold  to  the 
Saracens, "  said  the  King. 

Just  then  the  Wren  came  down  and  lighted  on 
the  perch  beside  the  Eagle.  Where  did  the  Wren 
fly  to?"  said  the  King.  "By  my  glove,"  said  the 
Falconer  "he  soared  past  the  line  of  frost,  and 
went  into  the  line  of  snow,  for  what's  on  his  feathers 
is  a  drop  of  snow. " 

"The  Wren  is  King  of  the  Birds,"  said  the 
Headman  of  Windy-Gap. 

"Yes,  King  of  the  Birds,"  said  the  King,  "and, 
therefore,  my  lawful  tribute." 

And  so,  for  ever  after  the  villages  sent  to  the 
King,  not  an  Eagle,  but  a  Wren  as  tribute.  And 
in  no  village  ever  after  were  the  lands  unplowed 
and  the  fields  unsown,  the  cloth  unspun  and  the 
coats  not  made,  the  roofs  unthatched  and  the 

apple-trees  unplanted.     And  in  every  village  in 

60 


"No  bird  will  ever  out-soar  this  flight  of  mine,' 
said  the  Eagle. 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

the  hollow  and  on  the  height  the  people  shouted 
for  the  Wren — "The  Wren,  the  Wren,  the  King 
of  all  Birds." 


Bloom-of-Youth    and    the 
Witch  of  the  Elders 


Bloom-of- Youth  and  the  Witch 
of  the  Elders 

T3LOOM-OF-YOUTH  was 

a  young,  young  girl. 
But,  young  as  she  was,  she 
would  have  to  be  married, 
her  step-mother  said.  Then 
married  she  was  while  she  was 
still  little  enough  to  walk 
through  the  doorway  of  her 
step-mother's  hut  without 
stooping  her  head. 

Her  husband  was  a  hunter 
and  he  took  her  to  live  in  a 
hut  at  the  edge  of  a  wood. 
He  was  out  hunting  the 
whole  of  the  day.  Now  what 
did  Bloom-of -Youth  do  while 
she  had  the  house  to  herself? 
Little  enough  indeed.  She 
swept  the  floor  and  she  washed  the  dishes  and  she 

67 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

laid  them  back  on  their  shelf.  Then  she  went  to 
the  well  for  pails  of  water.  When  she  went  out  she 
stayed  long,  for  first  she  would  look  into  the  well 
at  her  own  image  and  then  she  would  make  a 
wreath  of  flowers  and  put  it  on  her  head  and  look 
at  herself  again.  After  that,  maybe,  she  would 
delay  to  pick  berries  and  eat  them.  Then  she 
would  go  without  hurrying  along  the  path,  singing 
to  herself. — 

'Said  when  he  saw 

Me  all  in  blue, 
"Who  is  the  maid 

The  sky  must  woo?" 

'Said  when  he  saw 
Me  all  in  green, 
"Who  is  the  maid 
The  grass  calls  queen?" 

When  she  would  have  got  back  to  the  hut  the  fire 
on  the  hearth  would  have  gone  out  and  she  would 
have  to  light  it  again  and  then  sweep  the  floor 
clear  of  the  ashes  that  had  blown  upon  it.  After 

that  she  would  have  little  time  to  do  anything 

68 


BLOOM-OF-YOUTH  AND  THE  WITCH 

else  except  prepare  a  meal  against  the  time  when 
her  husband  would  be  back  from  his  hunting. 

One  morning  her  husband  left  his  coat  down 
on  the  bench.  "My  coat  is  torn;  sew  it  for  me," 
he  said.  Bloom-of- Youth  said  she  would  do  that. 
But  she  did  no  more  to  the  coat  than  take  it  up 
and  leave  it  down  again  on  the  bench. 

The  next  day  her  husband  said  "My  vest  is 
torn  too;  have  it  and  the  coat  sewn  for  me." 
He  left  the  vest  beside  the  coat  and  went  out  to 
his  hunting. 

Bloom-of- Youth  did  nothing  to  the  coat  and 
nothing  to  the  vest,  and  every  day  for  a  week  her 
husband  went  out  without  coat  or  vest  upon  him. 

One  day  he  put  on  his  torn  coat  and  his  torn  vest 
and  went  out  to  his  hunting.  When  he  came  home 
that  evening  he  had  a  bundle  of  wool  with  him. 

"Your  step-mother,"  said  he,  "sends  you  this 
bundle  of  wool  and  she  bids  you  spin  it  that 
there  may  be  cloth  for  new  clothes  for  me."  "I 
will  spin  it,"  said  Bloom-of -Youth. 

But  the  next  day  when  her  husband  went  away 

she  did  what  she  had  always  done  before.     She 

69 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

went  to  the  well  and  she  looked  for  long  at  her 
image;  she  put  a  wreath  of  flowers  on  her  head 
and  she  looked  at  her  image  again;  she  picked 
berries  and  ate  them;  she  went  along  the  path 
without  hurrying,  singing  to  herself. — 

'Said  when  he  saw 

Me  all  in  blue 
"Who  is  the  maid 

The  sky  must  woo?" 

'Said  when  he  saw 

Me  all  in  green 
"Who  is  the  maid 

The  grass  calls  queen?" 

She  had  to  light  the  fire  again  when  she  came  in 
and  sweep  away  the  ashes  that  had  gathered  on 
the  floor  and  after  she  had  done  all  that  it  was 
time  to  prepare  the  meal  for  the  evening.  But 
before  her  husband  came  home  she  took  the  spin- 
ning wheel  out  of  the  corner  and  put  it  near  the 
light  of  the  doorway. 

"I  see,"  said  her  husband,  "that  you  are  go- 
ing to  spin  the  wool  for  my  clothes/* 

70 


BLOOM-OF-YOUTH  AND  THE  WITCH 

"I  am  when  to-morrow  comes,"  said  Bloom-of- 
Youth. 

But  the  next  day  she  did  as  she  done  every  day 
and  no  wool  was  spun.  The  day  after  she  put  wool 
on  the  wheel  and  gave  it  a  few  turns.  In  a  week 
from  that  evening  she  had  one  ball  of  thread 
spun. 

"Your  step-mother  bids  me  ask  you  how  much 
of  the  wool  have  you  spun?"  said  her  husband 
to  her  one  evening.  Bloom-of- Youth  was  so 
much  afraid  that  her  husband  would  send  her  to 
her  step-mother  through  the  dark,  dark  wood, 
that  she  said  "I  have  spun  many  balls." 

"Your  step-mother  bade  me  count  the  balls 
you  have  spun,"  said  her  husband. 

"I  will  go  up  to  the  loft  and  throw  them  down 
to  you  and  then  you  will  throw  them  back  to  me 
and  we  will  count  them  that  way,  said  Bloom- 
of-Youth. 

She  went  up  to  the  loft  and  she  flung  down  the 
ball  she  had  spun. 

"One,"  said  her  husband,  and  he  threw  it  back 

to  her. 

71 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

She  flung  him  the  ball  again. 

"Two,"  said  her  husband,  and  he  flung  it  back 
to  her.  Then  he  said  "three,"  and  then  "four," 
and  then  "five,"  and  so  on  until  he  had  counted 
twelve.  "You  have  done  well,"  said  he,  "and 


now  before  the  week  is  out  take  the  twelve  balls 
to  your  step-mother's  house  and  she  will  weave 
the  thread  into  cloth  for  clothes  for  me." 

Bloom-of- Youth    was    greatly   frightened.      To 

her  step-mother's  house  she  would  have  to  go 

72 


BLOOM-OF-YOUTH  AND  THE  WITCH 

with  a  dozen  balls  of  thread  in  a  few  days.  The 
next  day  she  hurried  back  from  the  well  and  she 
sat  at  her  wheel  before  the  door  spinning  and 
spinning.  But,  do  her  best,  she  could  not  get  a 
good  thread  spun  in  the  long  length  of  the  day. 

And  while  she  was  spinning  and  spinning  and 
getting  her  thread  knotted  and  broken  a  black 
and  crooked  woman  came  and  stood  before  the 
door.  "  You're  spinning  hard  I  see,"  said  she  to 
Bloom-of- Youth. 

Bloom-of- Youth  gave  her  no  answer  but  put  her 
head  against  the  wheel  and  cried  and  cried. 

"And  what  would  you  say,"  said  the  black  and 
crooked  woman,  "if  I  took  the  bundle  of  wool 
from  you  now  and  brought  it  back  to  you  to- 
morrow spun  into  a  dozen  balls  of  thread?" 

"It  is  not  what  I  would  say;  it  is  what  I  should 
give  you,"  said  Bloom-of- Youth. 

"Give  me!"  said  the  black  and  crooked  woman. 
"What  could  you  give  me?"  But  as  she  said  it 
she  gave  Bloom-of -Youth  a  baleful  look  from  under 
her  leafy  eyebrows.  "No,  no,  you  need  give  me 

nothing  for  spinning  the  wool  for  you.     All  that 

73 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

I'll  ask  from  you  is  that  you  tell  me  my  name 
within  a  week  from  this  day." 

"It  will  be  easy  to  find  out  her  name  within 
a  week,"  said  Bloom-of- Youth  to  herself.  She 
took  the  bundle  of  wool  out  of  the  basket  and 
gave  it  to  her.  The  black  and  crooked  woman 
put  the  wool  under  her  arm  and  then  she  lifted 
up  her  stick  and  shook  it  at  Bloom-of- Youth. 

"And  if  you  don't  find  out  my  name  within  a 
week  you  will  have  to  give  me  your  heart's  blood 
— a  drop  of  heart's  blood  for  every  ball  of  wool  I 
spin  for  you."  The  hag  went  away  then.  Bloom- 
of- Youth  was  greatly  frightened,  but  after  a 
while  she  said  to  herself  "I  need  not  be  afraid, 
for  in  a  week  I'll  surely  find  out  the  name  of  the 
black  and  crooked  woman  who  can't  live  far  from 
this." 

The  next  day  the  hag  came  to  the  door  and  left 
twelve  balls  of  wool  on  the  bench  outside  the 
house.  "In  a  week,  in  a  week,"  said  she,  "you'll 
have  my  name  or  I'll  have  twelve  drops  of  your 
heart's  blood  to  make  the  leaves  of  my  Elder  Tree 

fresh  and  fine." 

74 


BLOOM-OF-YOUTH  AND  THE  WITCH 

Bloom-of- Youth  went  with  the  twelve  balls  of 
wool  to  her  step-mother's  house,  and  every  person 
she  met  on  the  way  she  asked  if  he  or  she  knew  the 
name  of  the  black  and  crooked  woman.  But  no 
one  could  tell  her  the  hag's  real  name.  All  they 
could  tell  was  that  she  was  the  Witch  of  the  Elders 
and  that  she  lived  beside  the  Big  Stones  that  were 
at  the  other  side  of  the  wood. 

Bloom-of -Youth  was  afraid:  her  face  lost  its 
color  and  her  eyes  grew  wide  and  her  heart  would 
beat  from  one  side  of  her  body  to  the  other.  And 
every  day  the  Witch  of  the  Elders  would  come 
to  the  door  and  say  "Have  you  my  name  yet, 
Bloom-of -Youth,  have  you  my  name  yet?  Two 
days  gone,  five  to  come  on;  three  days  gone, 
four  to  come  on;  four  days  gone,  three  to  come 
on;  five  days  gone,  two  to  come  on."  Six  days 
went  by  and  on  the  seventh  she  would  have  to  go 
to  the  Big  Stones  at  the  other  side  of  the  wood 
and  let  the  Witch  of  the  Elders  take  twelve  drops 
of  her  heart's  blood. 

The  night  before  the  week's  end  her  husband, 

when  he  sat  down  by  the  fire  said  "I  saw  some- 

75 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

thing  and  I  heard  something  very  strange  when 
I  was  at  the  other  side  of  the  wood  this  even- 
ing." "What  was  it  you  saw?"  said  Bloom-of- 
Youth.  "Lights  were  all  round  the  Big  Stones 
and  there  was  a  noise  of  spinning  inside  the  ring 
they  make.  That's  what  I  saw."  "And  what 
was  it  you  heard?"  said  Bloom-of- Youth.  "Some- 
one singing  to  the  wheels,"  said  her  husband. 
"And  this  is  what  I  heard  sung. — 

Spin,  wheel,  spin;  sing,  wheel,  sing; 

Every  stone  in  my  yard,  spin,  spin,  spin; 

The  thread  is  hers,  the  wool  is  mine; 

Twelve  drops  from  her  heart  will  make  my  leaves  shine! 

How  little  she  knows,  the  foolish  thing, 

That  my  name  is  Bolg  and  Curr  and  Carr, 

That  my  name  is  Lurr  and  Lappie. 

"O  sing  that  song  again,"  said  Bloom-of  - 
Youth,  "Sing  that  song  again." 

Her  husband  sang  it  again,  and  Bloom-of- 
Youth  went  to  bed,  singing  to  herself. — 

My  name  is  Bolg  and  Curr  and  Carr, 
My  name  is  Lurr  and  Lappie. 

The  next  day  as  soon  as  her  husband  had  gone 

to  his  hunting  Bloom -of -Youth  went  through  the 

76 


BLOOM-OF-YOUTH  AND  THE  WITCH 

wood  and  towards  the  Big  Stones  that  were  at 
the  other  side  of  it.  And  as  she  went  through 
the  wood  she  sang. — 

Spin,  wheel,  spin;  sing,  wheel,  sing; 
Every  branch  on  the  tree,  spin,  spin,  spin; 
The  wool  is  hers,  the  thread  is  fine; 
For  loss  of  my  heart's  blood  I'll  never  dwine; 
Her  name  is  Bolg  and  Curr  and  Carr, 
Her  name  is  Lurr  and  Lappie. 

She  went  singing  until  she  was  through  the  wood 
and  near  the  Big  Stones.  She  went  within  the 
circle.  There,  besides  a  flat  stone  that  was  on  the 
ground,  she  saw  the  black  and  crooked  old  woman. 

"You  have  come  to  me,  Bloom-of- Youth," 
said  she.  "Do  you  see  the  hollow  that  is  in  this 
stone?  It  is  into  this  hollow  that  the  drops  of 
your  heart's  blood  will  have  to  run." 

"The  drops  of  my  heart's  blood  may  remain 
my  own." 

"  No,  no,  they  won't  remain  your  own  any  longer 
than  when  it  is  plain  you  can't  tell  my  name." 

"Is  it  Bolg?"  said  Bloom-of-Youth. 

"Bolg   is    one   of   my    names,"    screamed   the 

77 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

Witch  of  the  Elders,  "but  one  of  my  names  won't 
let  you  go  free." 

"Is  it  Curr?" 

"Curr  is  another  of  my  names,  but  two  of  my 
names  won't  let  you  go  free. 

"Is  it  Carr?" 

"Carr  is  another  of  my  names,  but  three  of  my 
names  will  not  let  you  go  free." 

"I  know  your  other  names  too,"  said  Bloom- 
of-Youth. 

"Say  them,  say  them,"  screamed  the  Witch 
of  the  Elders. 

But  when  she  tried  to  think  of  them  Bloom- 
of- Youth  found  that  the  last  two  names  had  gone 
out  of  her  mind.  Not  for  all  the  drops  that  were 
in  her  heart  could  she  remember  them. 

"No,  no,  you  can't  say  them,"  said  the  Witch 
of  the  Elders.  "And  now  bend  your  breast  over 
the  hollow  in  the  stone.  I'll  let  out  twelve  drops 
of  your  heart's  blood  with  my  pointed  rod.  Bend 
your  breast  over  the  hollow." 

But  just  as  the  Witch  was  dragging  her  to  the 

stone  a  robin  began  to  sing  on  a  branch  outside 

78 


But  just  as  the  Witch  was  dragging  her  to  the  stone  a  robin 
began  to  sing. 


BLOOM-OF-YOUTH  AND  THE  WITCH 

the  Stones.  It  was  the  same  tune  as  Bloom-of  - 
Youth  had  sung  her  song  to  as  she  went  through 
the  wood.  Now  all  the  words  in  her  song  came 
back  to  her.— 

Spin,  wheel,  spin;  sing,  wheel,  sing; 
Every  branch  on  the  tree,  spin,  spin,  spin; 
The  wool  is  hers,  the  thread  is  mine; 
For  loss  of  my  heart's  blood  I'll  never  dwine! 
Her  name  is  Bolg  and  Curr  and  Carr, 
Her  name  is  Lurr  and  Lappie. 

She  said  the  last  two  names  and  as  she  did  the 
Witch  of  the  Elders  screamed  and  ran  behind  the 
stones.  Bloom-of- Youth  saw  no  more  of  her. 

That  evening  her  husband  brought  home  the 
web  of  cloth  that  her  step-mother  had  woven. 
The  next  day  Bloom-of- Youth  began  to  make 
clothes  for  him  out  of  it.  Never  again  did  she 
make  delays  at  the  well  but  she  came  straight  home 
with  her  pails  of  water.  The  fire  was  always  clear 
upon  the  hearth  and  she  had  never  to  light  it 
the  second  time  and  then  sweep  away  the  ashes 
that  had  gathered  on  the  floor.  She  made  good 

clothes  for  her  husband  out  of  the  web  of  cloth 

81 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

her  step-mother  had  woven.  And  every  evening 
she  spun  on  her  wheel  and  there  was  never  a  time 
afterwards  when  she  had  not  a  dozen  balls  of 
thread  in  the  house. 

The  wool  is  hers  and  the  thread  is  mine; 

For  loss  of  my  heart's  blood  I  never  will  dwine, 

And  I  throw  my  ball  over  to  you. 

It  was  the  Woodpecker  that  told  this  story  to 
the  Boy  Who  Knew  What  the  Birds  Said. 


The  Hen-wife's  Son  and  the 
Princess  Bright-brow 


The    Hen-wife's    Son    and    the 
Princess  Bright-brow 

TT'VERYONE  in  and  around 

TJ 

the  King's  Castle  despised 
Mell,  the  Hen-wife's  Son,  said 
the  Stonechecker,  the  bird  that 
built  within  the  stones  of  the 
Tower.  And  it  was  not  be- 
cause there  was  anything  mean 
about  the  lad  himself:  it  was 
because  his  mother,  the  Hen- 
wife,  had  the  lowest  office 
about  the  King's  Castle. 

This  is  what  a  Hen-wife  did : 
She  had  to  mind  the  fowl  and 
keep  count  of  them,  she  had  to 
gather  the  eggs  and  put  them 
into  a  basket  and  send  them 
to  the  King's  Steward  every 
day.  And  for  doing  this  she 

had  as  wages  the  right  to  go  to  the  back-door  of 

85 


the  Steward's  house  and  get  from  the  under-serv- 
ants  two  meals  a  day  for  herself  and  Mell,  her  son. 

And  everybody,  as  I  said,  despised  this  son  of 
hers — horse-boys  and  dog-boys  and  the  grooms 
around  the  Castle.  But  of  course  no  one  de- 
spised Mell  more  than  did  the  King's  daughter, 
Princess  Bright  Brow. 

She  used  to  go  into  a  wood  and  whisper  along 
the  branch  of  a  tree.  And  one  day  the  Hen-wife's 
son  whom  she  despised  so  much  made  answer  to 
her.  He  was  lying  along  the  branch  of  the  tree 
watching  his  mother's  goat  that  grazed  on  the 
grass  below.  Now  this  is  what  Princess  Bright 
Brow  said  to  the  tree  and  this  is  what  she  used 
to  say  to  it  every  day. — 

Oak-tree,  oak-tree,  above  the  rest, 
Which  of  the  heroes  loves  me  best? 

Mell  was  lying  along  the  Branch  as  I  have  said, 
and  he  made  answer  back  to  her. — 

Princess,  Princess,  he's  at  your  call, 

And  the  Hen-wife's  sonloves  you  best  of  all ! 

The  Bang's  daughter  looked  up  and  she  saw  the 

Hen-wife's  son  on  the  branch,  and  she  went  into 

86 


MELL  AND  PRINCESS  BRIGHT  BROW 

a  great  rage.  She  gave  orders  to  the  grooms 
that  the  Hen-wife's  son  was  to  be  whipped  every 
time  he  looked  at  her.  Many's  the  time  after  that 
Mell  got  the  lash.  But  he  loved  Bright  Brow  so 
much  that  he  could  not  forbear  looking  at  her. 

II 

Now,  one  very  early  morning  Mell  took  his 
mother's  goat  out  to  graze  on  the  green.  And  as 
he  went  along  he  saw  on  the  grass  a  beautiful 
mantle.  He  took  it  up  and  he  thought  to  him- 
self "How  well  it  would  look  upon  Princess  Bright 
Brow!"  And  he  thought  again  "if  she  would 
take  this  beautiful  green  mantle  from  me  maybe 
she  would  let  me  look  upon  her  when  she  is  wear- 
ing  it." 

He  put  the  mantle  across  his  shoulders  and  sat 
down  and  thought  and  thought.  And  while 
he  was  thinking  he  felt  the  mantle  being  pulled 
from  behind.  He  turned  round  and  he  saw  a 
woman  standing  there.  She  had  brighter  colors 
in  her  dress  and  she  wore  more  ornaments  than 

any  one  he  had  ever  seen  in  the  King's  Castle. 

87 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 


He  knew  by  such  signs  that  she  was   a  Fairy 
Woman  out  of  the  Green  Rath. 

"Mell,"  said   she,  "Mell,  the  Hen- wife's   son, 

88 


MELL  AND  PRINCESS  BRIGHT  BROW 

give  to  me  the  mantle  that  the  King  of  the  Fairy 
Riders  let  fall  from  his  shoulders  last  night." 

"If  it  is  his,  and  if  you  have  come  to  bring  it 
to  him,  why  you  must  have  it,"  said  Mell,  and  he 
took  the  mantle  off  his  shoulders  and  handed 
it  to  her. 

"The  King  would  wish  that  I  should  recom- 
pense you,"  said  the  Fairy  Woman.  She  took 
a  jewel  that  was  on  the  collar  of  the  mantle  and 
gave  it  to  Mell.  "If  you  take  this  jewel  in  your 
hand,"  said  she,  "and  wish  to  be  in  this  place  or 
that  place  you  will  be  there  in  an  instant,  and 
anyone  you  take  by  the  hand  you  can  bring  with 
you."  And  when  Mell  took  the  jewel  from  her, 
the  Fairy  Woman,  carrying  the  green  mantle, 
went  into  the  green  rath. 

Then  Mell  took  his  goat  by  the  horns  and 
turned  towards  his  hut.  And  there,  outside  the 
gate  of  the  Castle  he  saw  the  King's  daughter, 
Princess  Bright  Brow.  She  was  watching  the 
falconer  training  the  young  hawks  and  the  grooms 
and  the  riders  of  the  Castle  were  behind  her. 

When  she  saw  Mell  with  his  hands  on  the  goat's 

89 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

horns  she  grew  high  in  rage  and  she  turned  to  the 
grooms  to  give  an  order  that  he  be  beaten  with 
the  whips  they  held. 

But  Mell  ran  to  her  and  he  caught  her  hand 
and  holding  the  jewel  he  said  "I  wish  that  I  was 
in  the  Island  of  the  Shadow  of  the  Stars  and  that 
this  young  girl  was  with  me."  The  hawk  flew 
at  him  and  the  hound  sprang  at  him  and  the  whips 
struck  at  him  and  while  he  was  still  expecting  the 
feel  of  teeth  and  claws  and  lash  he  was  away 
and  was  in  another  country  altogether.  There 
was  neither  hawk  nor  hound  nor  hut  nor  castle 
nor  groom  nor  falconer.  Two  beings  only  were 
there  and  they  were  Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son  and 
the  King's  daughter,  Princess  Bright  Brow. 

"In  what  country  are  we?"  said  Princess  Bright 
Brow. 

"Unless  we  are  in  the  Island  of  the  Shadow 
of  the  Stars  I  don't  know  where  we  are,"  said 
Mell,  the  Hen-wife's  Son. 

"You  are  the  Hen-wife's  son  and  you  have 
brought  me  here  by  enchantment,"  said  Bright 

Brow. 

90 


MELL  AND  PRINCESS  BRIGHT  BROW 

She  wanted  to  go  from  him,  but  where  was  she 
to  go  to?  All  the  country  was  strange  to  her. 
And  so,  if  she  made  two  steps  away  from  him  she 
soon  made  two  steps  back  to  him.  And  the  end 
of  this  part  of  the  story  is  that  Bright  Brow  be- 
came friendly  to  the  Hen- wife's  Son. 

He  gathered  fruits  off  trees  and  he  snared  birds 
and  he  took  the  fish  out  of  rivers  and  he  found 
sheltered  places  to  sleep  in.  And  often  the  Prin- 
cess Bright  Brow  was  good  and  kind  to  him.  And 
Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son  was  now  as  happy  as 
anyone  in  the  world.  "Since  we  are  so  friendly 
to  each  other  now,"  said  Bright  Brow  to  him  one 
day,  "will  you  not  tell  me  how  you  were  able  to 
come  here  and  bring  me  with  you?" 

"It  was  because  of  the  jewel  I  wear  at  my 
breast,"  said  Mell.  And  then  he  told  how  he  had 
found  the  green  mantle  on  the  ground  and  how 
the  Fairy  Woman  gave  him  the  jewel  and  what 
power  the  jewel  had. 

If  Mell  was  content  to  be  on  the  Island,  Bright 
Brow  was  not.  And  so  one  evening  when  he  was 

asleep  she  lifted  up  the  mantle  and  took  the  jewel 

91 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

that  was  on  his  breast.  Then  holding  it  in  her 
hand  she  said  "I  wish  I  was  back  in  my  father's 
Castle."  In  an  instant  she  was  back  there.  Now 
all  her  maids  were  around  her  and  all  of  them  were 
crying  "Where  have  you  been,  King's  daughter, 
where  have  you  been?"  And  Bright  Brow  told 
them  that  the  King  of  the  Fairy  Riders  had  taken 
her  away  to  show  her  all  the  great  heroes  of  the 
world  so  that  when  the  time  came  for  her  to  choose 
a  husband  she  could  make  her  choice  of  the  best 
amongst  them. 

As  for  Mell,  the  Hen-wife's  son:  when  he  wak- 
ened up  and  found  that  Bright  Brow  had  gone 
and  that  the  jewel  was  gone  there  was  no  one  in 
the  world  more  sad  and  lonely  than  he  was.  He 
thought  that  she  might  come  back  to  him,  but 
the  moon  came  and  the  sun  came  and  Bright  Brow 
came  not.  He  longed  to  be  a  bird  that  he  might 
fly  after  her  to  her  father's  Castle. 

He  stayed  on  the  Island  of  the  Shadow  of  the 
Stars  for  a  long  time  for,  now  that  the  jewel  was 
gone  from  him,  there  was  no  way  of  getting  from 

the  Island.     Then  a  King  who  had  built  a  high 

92 


MELL  AND  PRINCESS  BRIGHT  BROW 

tower  went  to  the  top  of  it  one  day  and  saw  the 
Island  of  the  Shadow  of  the  Stars.  He  sent  out 
his  long  ships  and  his  leathern- jerkined  men  to  it. 
They  found  Mell  and  they  brought  him  to  the 
King.  Then  Mell  became  one  of  the  King's  men 
and  he  went  into  battle  and  he  learnt  the  use  of 
all  arms. 

Ill 

The  Hen-wife's  son  went  through  the  Eastern 
and  the  Western  Worlds  and  he  came  back  to 
where  his  mother's  hut  was.  He  rode  round  the 
walls  of  the  King's  Castle.  Everything  that  he 
thought  was  magnificent  before  seemed  small  to 
him  now.  The  trees  that  grew  within  the  walls 
seemed  not  much  bigger  than  the  bushes  the  old 
women  put  clothes  to  dry  on. 

Sitting  on  his  black  horse  he  looked  across  the 
wall  that  he  once  thought  was  so  high  and  he  saw 
the  Hen-wife's  hut.  His  mother  came  out  to  feed 
the  hens  and  to  count  them  and  to  gather  up  the 
eggs  and  put  them  in  a  basket.  "She's  alive  and 

I'll  see  her  again,"  said  Mell.    He  rode  round  the 

93 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

wall  to  the  King's  Garden  to  try  to  get  sight  of 
the  Princess  Bright  Brow.  He  saw  no  sight  of 
her.  .He  rode  on  and  he  came  to  the  gate  at  the 
other  side  and  he  saw  outside  the  Cook-house  the 
horse-boys  and  dog-boys  and  grooms  that  he  used 
to  know. 

He  saw  them  and  he  knew  them,  but  they  did 
not  know  him.  He  was  surprised  to  see  that  they 
had  not  learnt  to  straighten  up  their  shoulders 
nor  to  walk  as  if  there  was  a  fine  thought  in  their 
heads.  They  were  all  around  the  Cook-house, 
and  a  great  noise  of  rattling  was  coming  from 
within  it. 

"What  noise  is  that  in  the  Cook-house?"  Mell 
asked  a  groom. 

"The  Cook's  son  is  going  out  to  fight,"  said 
the  groom,  "and  he  is  striking  the  pot-lids  with 
the  ladles  to  let  everyone  in  the  Cook-house  know 
how  fierce  he  is." 

"And  who  is  the  Cook's  son  going  to  fight?" 
asked  Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son. 

"He  is  going  to  fight  a  great  Champion  that 

has  come  up  from  the  sea  in  a  boat  that  moves 

94 


MELL  AND  PRINCESS  BRIGHT  BROW 

itself.  This  Champion  demands  that  the  King 
pay  tribute  to  him.  And  the  King  has  offered 
his  daughter  and  half  his  kingdom  to  the  youth 
who  will  go  down  to  the  sea-shore  and  defeat  this 
Champion.  And  to-day  the  Cook's  son  is  going 
out  to  make  trial." 

And  while  the  groom  was  saying  all  this  the 
Cook's  son  came  out  of  the  Cook-house.  His  big 
face  was  all  gray.  His  knees  were  knocking  each 
other.  The  breastplate  of  iron  he  had  on  was 
slipping  to  one  side  and  the  big  sword  he  had  put 
in  his  belt  was  trailing  on  the  ground. 

"I  would  like  to  see  what  sort  of  a  fight  this 
Champion  will  make,"  said  Mell,  the  Hen-wife's 
son.  He  followed  the  Cook's  son  to  the  sea-shore. 
But  the  Cook's  son,  when  he  had  come  to  the  shore, 
looked  round  and  found  a  little  cave  in  the  face 
of  the  rock  and  climbed  into  it. 

Then  a  boat  that  moved  of  itself  came  in  from 
the  sea,  and  a  Champion  all  in  red  sprang  out  of 
it.  And  when  he  had  touched  the  shingles  he 
struck  his  sword  on  his  shield  and  he  shouted  "If 

the  King  of  this  Land  has  a  Champion  equal  to 

95 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID  x 

the  fray  let  him  forth  against  me.  And  if  the 
King  of  the  Land  has  no  such  Champion,  let  him 
pay  me  tribute  from  his  Kingdom." 

Mell  looked  to  the  cave  where  the  Cook's  son 
had  hidden  himself  and  all  he  saw  there  was  a 
bush  being  pulled  towards  the  opening  to  hide  it. 

Then  Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son  drew  his  sword 
and  went  down  the  beach  towards  the  Red  Cham- 
pion. They  fought  for  half  the  day.  At  the  end 
of  that  time  the  Red  Champion  said  "Good  is 
the  champion  that  the  King  of  this  Land  has 
sent  against  me.  I  did  not  know  he  had  such  a 
good  champion." 

They  fought  all  over  the  strand  making  the 
places  that  were  stony,  wet,  and  the  places  that 
were  wet,  stony,  and  then,  when  the  sun  was  going 
down,  the  Red  Champion  was  not  able  to  do  any- 
thing more  than  guard  himself  from  the  strokes 
of  Mell's  sword  while  he  drew  towards  his  boat. 

"You  will  have  the  honors  of  the  fight  to-day," 
said  he  to  Mell. 

"I  shall  have  the  honors  and  something  else 

beside,"  said  Mell.     Then  he  struck  at  the  red 

96 


The  Red  Champion  said,  "Good  is  the  Champion  that  the 
King  of  this  Land  has  sent  against  me." 


MELL  AND  PRINCESS  BRIGHT  BROW 

plume  that  was  on  his  enemy's  cap.  He  cut  it 
off  as  the  Red  Champion  sprang  into  the  boat 
that  moved  of  itself.  As  the  sun  was  sinking  the 
Champion  in  the  boat  went  over  the  sea. 

Now  the  Cook's  son  had  been  watching  the 
whole  fight  from  the  cave.  When  he  saw  the  Red 
Champion  going  off  in  his  boat  he  came  running 
down  to  the  shore.  The  Hen  wife's  son  was  lying 
with  his  hands  and  his  face  in  the  water  trying  to 
cool  himself  after  the  combat  and  the  red  plume 
that  he  had  struck  off  the  Champion's  cap  was 
lying  near  him.  The  Cook's  son  took  up  the  plume. 

"Let  me  keep  this  as  a  remembrance  of  your 
fight,  brave  warrior,"  said  he  to  the  Hen-wife's 
son. 

"You  may  keep  it,"  said  Mell.  Then  with  the 
red  plume  in  his  hands  the  Cook's  son  ran  back 
towards  the  Castle. 

IV 

Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son  put  on  his  best  garments 
and  he  went  to  the  Castle  that  evening  and  he 

was  received  by  the  King  as   a   champion  from 

99 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

foreign  parts.  And  the  King  invited  him  to  supper 
for  three  nights. 

Princess  Bright  Brow  was  at  the  supper  and 
Mell  watched  and  watched  her.  He  saw  that  she 
was  pale  and  that  she  kept  sighing.  And  of  the 
damsel  who  came  to  sit  beside  him  at  the  table 
Mell  asked  "Why  is  the  King's  daughter  so  sad 
and  troubl  ed-looking  ? ' ' 

"She  has  reason  for  being  sad  and  troubled," 
said  the  damsel  who  was  called  Sea  Swan,  "for 
she  thinks  she  may  have  to  marry  one  whom  she 
thinks  little  of." 

"Why  should  that  be?"  said  Mell. 

"Because  her  father  has  promised  to  give  her 
and  half  his  Kingdom  to  the  one  who  will  defeat 
the  Red  Champion  who  has  come  from  across  the 
sea  and  who  demands  that  the  King  give  him 
tribute  from  the  land.  And  the  only  one  who  has 
gone  forth  against  the  Champion  is  the  Cook's 
son — a  gray-faced  fellow  that  only  a  kitchen-maid 
would  marry.  And  if  it  happens  that  the  Cook's 
son  overcomes  the  Red  Champion,  well  then 

Princess  Bright  Brow  will  have  to  marry  him." 

100 


MELL  AND  PRINCESS  BRIGHT  BROW 

And  later  on  Sea  Swan  said  to  Mell  "The  King's 
daughter  is  so  troubled  that  she  would  go  away 
to  the  Island  of  the  Shadow  of  the  Stars  if  she 
had  the  jewel  that  would  bring  her  there.  She 
had  it  once,  but  a  Fairy  Woman  came  out  of  the 
green  rath  and  made  Bright  Brow  give  it  to  her. " 

When  the  feast  was  at  its  height  the  King  stood 
up  and  bade  the  Cook's  son  come  near  the  High 
Chair  and  tell  how  he  had  fought  with  the  Red 
Champion  that  day.  And  the  Cook's  son  came 
up  holding  the  red  plume  in  his  hand.  He  told  a 
story  of  how  he  had  fought  with  the  Red  Champion 
all  the  day  and  how  he  had  beaten  him  to  his  boat 
and  how  he  had  made  him  take  his  boat  out  to 
sea,  and  how,  as  the  Champion  had  sprung  into 
the  boat,  he  had  struck  at  him  and  had  cut  the 
red  plume  from  his  cap.  "And  I  shall  go  down  the 
sea-shore  to-morrow,"  said  the  Cook's  son  very 
bravely,  "and  if  the  Red  Champion  dares  come 
back  I  shall  take  off  his  head  instead  of  his  plume." 
Then  he  left  the  red  plume  beside  the  King's 
daughter  and  her  father  made  Bright  Brow  hold 

up  her  forehead  for  the  Cook's  son  to  kiss.     And 

101 


all  in  the  supper-room  clapped  their  hands  for  the 
Cook's  son. 

The  next  day  Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son  stood 
outside  the  Cook-house  and  he  heard  a  tremendous 
rattling  within.  "That  is  the  Cook's  son  prepar- 
ing to  go  out  to  battle,"  said  one  of  the  grooms. 
"He  is  striking  the  ladles  upon  the  pot-lids  to 
show  how  fierce  he  is."  Just  as  that  was  being 
said  the  Cook's  son  walked  out  of  the  Cook-house. 
He  looked  around  him  very  haughtily.  Then  he 
walked  away  with  his  big  sword  trailing  behind 
him  and  his  breast-plate  all  to  one  side.  Mell  the 
Hen-wife's  son  followed  him. 

When  he  came  to  the  sea-shore  he  stood  for  a 
while  looking  out  to  sea  with  his  knees  knocking 
together.  Then  he  went  where  he  had  gone  the 
day  before.  He  climbed  into  a  cave  in  the  face  of 
the  cliff  and  he  drew  the  bush  to  the  entrance  of 
it  so  that  it  was  quite  hidden. 

Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son  looked  out  to  sea  and 
he  saw  the  boat  that  moved  of  itself  come  towards 
the  shore.  The  Red  Champion  was  in  it.  He 

sprang  out  on  the  strand,  struck  his  sword  on  his 

102 


MELL  AND  PRINCESS  BRIGHT  BROW 

shield  and  made  proclamation:  Unless  the  King 
of  the  Land  sent  a  champion  who  could  over- 
throw him  he  would  make  him  pay  tribute  for 
his  Kingdom. 

Then  down  to  meet  him  came  Mell  the  Hen- 
wife's  son,  his  sword  in  his  hand.  He  and  the  Red 
Champion  saluted  each  other  and  then  they 
fought  together  trampling  over  the  beach,  making 
the  soft  places  hard  and  the  hard  places  soft 
with  the  dint  of  their  trampling.  "A  good  cham- 
pion, by  my  faith  you  are,"  said  the  Red  Cham- 
pion to  Mell,  when  three-quarters  of  the  day  had 
been  spent  in  fighting.  And  after  that  the  Red 
Champion  tried  only  to  guard  himself  from  the 
thrusts  and  the  strokes  of  Mell's  sword.  He  drew 
away  from  Mell  and  towards  his  boat.  He  put 
his  two  feet  in  it  and  pushed  away.  "You  have 
the  honors  of  the  day's  fight,  champion,"  said  he. 
"I  shall  have  something  beside  the  honors," 
said  Mell  and  he  struck  at  the  Red  Champion's 
belt.  Down  on  the  shingles  fell  the  silver-studded 
belt  and  the  Red  Champion  pushed  off  in  his  boat. 

When  the  Book's  son  saw  from  his  cave  that  the 

103 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

Red  Champion  had  gone  he  came  down  to  the 
water's  edge  where  Mell  was  lying  with  his  face 
and  hands  in  the  water  to  cool  himself  after  the 
combat.  The  silver-studded  belt  was  lying  be- 
side Mell.  The  Cook's  son  took  it  up  without 
saying  a  word  and  he  went  off  towards  the  Castle. 
That  night  Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son  sat  by  him- 
self in  the  supper  room  of  the  King's  Castle.  He 
watched  and  watched  the  face  of  the  Princess 
Bright  Brow.  She  looked  more  pale  and  troubled 
than  on  the  night  before.  And  after  the  harpers 
had  played  the  King  called  upon  the  Cook's 
son  to  come  up  to  the  High  Chair  and  tell  how  he 
had  battled  with  the  Red  Champion.  He  came 
up  with  the  silver-studded  belt  in  his  hand  and 
he  told  a  story  of  how  he  had  beaten  the  Red 
Champion  back  into  the  sea.  And  when  the  story 
was  told  the  King  bade  Bright  Brow  go  over  to 
him  and  kiss  the  Cook's  son  on  his  heavy  gray 
cheek. 


104 


MELL  AND  PRINCESS  BRIGHT  BROW 


The  next  day  when  he  stood  before  the  Cook- 
house, Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son  heard  a  greater 
rattling  than  before.  The  Cook's  son  struck 
the  pot-lids  with  the  ladles  more  fiercely  than 
before  and  he  cried  out  in  a  high  voice  "This 
is  the  last  time  that  I  shall  ever  stand  amongst 
the  pots  and  the  pans,  the  lids  and  the  ladles,  for 
I  go  to  fight  the  Red  Champion  for  the  last  time, 
and  after  this  I  will  sit  beside  the  King's  Chair 
and  the  King's  daughter,  Princess  Bright  Brow, 
will  sit  upon  my  knee." 

He  marched  down  to  the  sea-shore,  his  long 
sword  trailing  behind  him.  He  walked  through 
the  street  with  his  head  high,  but  when  he  drew 
near  the  sea-shore  his  gait  became  less  grand.  His 
knees  began  to  knock  together.  He  looked  out 
to  the  sea  and  when  he  saw  the  boat  that  moved 
of  itself  coming  towards  the  shore  he  clambered 
into  the  cave  and  he  drew  the  bushes  round  to 
cover  up  the  entrance. 

The  boat   that   moved   of  itself  came  to   the 

105 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

strand.  The  Red  Champion  sprang  out  on  the 
shingles.  He  made  his  proclamation.  Then  up 
to  him  came  Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son.  "I  will 
strive  with  you,"  said  he,  "as  I  strove  with  you 
yesterday  and  the  day  before.  And  how  shall  we 
fight?  Shall  it  be  with  swords  or  by  wrestling?" 
"By  wrestling  let  it  be  to-day,"  said  the  Red 
Champion. 

They  laid  hands  on  each  other  and  began  to 
wrestle.  And  in  their  bout  of  wrestling  they  made 
holes  in  the  ground  and  they  made  hillocks  on  the 
ground,  and  when  the  day  was  about  to  close 
Mell  overthrew  the  Red  Champion.  He  left  him 
stark  on  the  ground.  Then  he  took  the  cord  he  had 
round  his  waist  and  he  bound  the  Red  Champion — 
hands  and  feet,  waist  and  chest  he  bound  him. 

The  Cook's  son  came  up  to  them  then.  "As 
you  took  the  red  plume  and  as  you  took  the  silver- 
studded  belt,  take  the  Champion  too,"  said  Mell. 
Then  the  Cook's  son  took  the  Red  Champion, 
all  bound  as  he  was,  and  putting  him  across  his 
shoulders  went  staggering  up  the  beach  and  to- 
wards the  King's  Castle. 

106 


MELL  AND  PRINCESS  BRIGHT  BROW 

VI 

Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son  sat  in  the  supper- 
room  of  the  Castle  again  that  night.  The  King's 
daughter,  Princess  Bright  Brow,  was  there  and 
she  was  as  white  as  white  rose-leaves  and  tears 
were  falling  down  her  cheeks.  And  when  the 
wine  had  been  drunk  out  of  the  cups  the  King 
stood  up  and  called  upon  the  Cook's  son  to  come 
up  to  the  High  Chair  and  tell  all  how  he  had 
overthrown  and  had  bound  the  Red  Cham- 
pion who  would  have  put  a  tribute  upon  the  King- 
dom. The  Cook's  son  came  up  to  the  High  Chair 
and  he  told  them  a  story  that  was  wonderful 
indeed.  And  when  the  story  was  told  the  King 
said  "Loose  the  Red  Champion  whom  you  bound, 
and  when  he  has  knelt  here  and  prayed  to  us  for 
forgiveness  the  King's  daughter  will  take  your 
hands  and  will  marry  you."  "Look,"  said  the 
damsel  Sea  Swan  to  Mell  the  Hen  Wife's  son, 
"how  the  Princess  Bright  Brow  is  pulling  the  hairs 
from  her  head  in  her  grief." 

The  Red  Champion  was  brought  in  bound  and 

107 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

the  Cook's  son  began  to  try  to  unbind  him.  But 
not  one  knot  could  he  loosen.  He  tried  and  he 
tried  and  he  broke  his  nails  trying.  "This  is 
strange  indeed,"  said  the  King,  "for  it  used  to  be 
said  that  whoever  bound  one  could  loosen  one." 

He  tried  again  and  he  tried  again  and  not  one 
cord  could  he  loosen  from  another.  Then  the 
King's  daughter  Princess  Bright  Brow  looked  up. 
"How  strange  it  would  be,"  said  she,  "if  it  was  not 
the  Cook's  son  who  bound  the  Red  Champion." 

Then  up  the  Hall  came  Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son. 
He  stood  over  the  Red  Champion  and  he  pulled 
a  cord  here  and  he  pulled  a  cord  there  and  in  a 
minute  he  was  unbound.  All  in  the  hall  began  to 
murmur  "Surely  the  one  who  unloosed  him  bound 
him,"  said  many  people. 

"He  is  the  one  who  bound  me,"  said  the  Red 
Champion,  pointing  out  Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son, 
"and  besides  it  was  he  who  cut  the  red  plume  off 
my  cap  and  who  took  the  silver-studded  belt 
from  me." 

"Speak  up  and  deny  what  he  says,"  said  the 

King  to  the  Cook's  son. 

108 


MELL  AND  PRINCESS  BRIGHT  BROW 

But  when  the  Cook's  son  tried  to  speak  he 
stuttered  and  stammered  and  his  knees  began  to 
knock  together  and  his  hands  went  shaking.  And 
when  the  company  looked  at  him  there  was  not 
one  there  who  believed  he  had  fought  the  Red 
Champion.  And  when  the  Cook's  son  looked 
round  and  saw  there  was  not  one  there  who  be- 
lieved in  him  he  gathered  the  supper-things  of  the 
table  like  an  attendant  and  went  out  of  the  room. 

"And  now,"  said  the  King  to  Mell,  the  Hen- 
wife's  son,  "since  there  is  no  doubt  but  it  was  you 
who  conquered  the  champion  to  you  I  give  my 
daughter's  hand.  Take  her  now  for  your  wife 
and  take  half  of  my  kingdom  with  her." 

Then  Bright  Brow  lifted  her  face  to  him  and 
she  put  her  hands  in  his  hands. 

"Mell,"  said  she,  "Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son,  I 
knew  for  long  that  you  would  come  to  me  like 
this.  Forgive  me  and  love  me,"  said  she,  "and 
I  will  love  you  from  this  night." 

And  so  Mell  the  Hen-wife's  son  and  the  King's 
daughter,  Princess  Bright  Brow,  came  together 

again.     He  married  her  and  came  to  rule  over 

109 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

half  her  father's  kingdom.  They  lived  happy 
ever  afterwards,  of  course.  And  Mell  brought 
his  mother  out  of  the  hut  beside  the  poultry- 
coop  and  he  took  her  to  live  in  the  Castle.  And 
in  the  end  his  mother  married  the  Steward  who 
had  become  a  widower  and  she  became  the  most 
respected  dame  in  and  about  the  King's  Castle. 
And  as  for  the  Cook's  son  he  is  still  in  the  Cook- 
house amongst  the  pots  and  the  pans,  the  lids  and 
the  ladles. 


The  Giant  and  the  Birds 


The  Giant  and  the  Birds 


HHHE  Cock  scraped  and  the 
Hens  scraped  and  when  the 
Hens  went  away  the  Cock 
scraped  by  himself.  He  called 
the  Hens  back,  and  they  all 
scraped  deeper  and  deeper. 
Then  something  was  shown;  it 
was  bright  and  round,  and  the 
Cock  and  the  three  Hens  scraped 
until  the  whole  of  it  was  to  be 
seen.  It  was  a  great  ring  of  brass. 

:'Tell  us  how  you  knew  the 
bright  thing  was  there,  Hero- 
son  of  my  heart?"  said  the  Lit- 
tle Slate-colored  Hen  that  was 
the  Cock's  mother. 

"Do,  do,"  said  the  Feather- 
legged  Hen. 

Tell  us,  Top  of  Wisdom,"  said  the  Blue  Hen. 
113 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

"You  all  know,"  said  the  Cock,  "that  the  earth 
rocks  underneath  the  place  where  I  crow  in  the 
morning." 

"We  know,  O  Unvanquishable,"  said  the  three 
Hens. 

"The  earth  never  rocked  here,"  said  the  Cock, 
"hence  I  knew  that  something  powerful  was 
under  the  ground  at  this  place.  It  was  the  ring 
of  brass.  Now  it  will  be  found  and  brought  into 
the  house.  And  when  I  stand  here  and  crow  in 
the  morning  the  earth  will  rock  as  it  does  in  every 
other  place  in  the  world." 

"It  will,  it  will,"  said  the  Feather-legged  Hen. 

"It  must,  O  Top  of  Valor,"  said  the  Blue  Hen. 

"And  you  will  tell  us  how  the  ring  of  brass 
came  to  be  there,  Hero-son  of  my  heart,"  said  the 
Little  Slate-colored  Hen  that  was  the  Cock's 
mother. 

"In  the  course  of  the  evening  I  may  do  so," 
said  the  Cock  condescendingly. 

When  they  were  beside  the  sunny  wall,  the  Hens 
on  the  ground  scattering  dust  over  their  feathers 

and  their  lord  standing  on  one  leg  with  his  comb 

114 


THE  GIANT  AND  THE  BIRDS 

hanging  over  one  eye  the  Cock  said  "No  Cock  of 
our  breed  ever  told  this  story  before.  They  would 
not  frighten  the  hens  with  it.  However,  since 
you  have  persuaded  me  I  will  tell  you  the  tale. 
My  grandfather  told  it  to  my  father  who  told  it 
to  me.  It  is  the  story  of  the  Big  Man  who  came  to 
this  place  and  who  wore  the  ring  of  brass  that  we 
uncovered  to-day." 

He  did  not  put  it  over  his  head  as  you  might 
think  from  the  size  of  the  ring.  No.  He  wore  it 
on  his  arm.  Never  was  a  bigger  man  seen  by  any- 
one living.  The  whole  countryside  stood  outside 
their  houses  to  see  him  come  over  the  hills.  When 
he  came  to  where  the  stones  are  he  stooped  down 
to  take  a  drink  and  he  drank  the  well  dry.  The 
people  came  out  of  the  house  to  meet  him,  and  he 
spoke  to  them,  and  out  of  what  he  said  to  them 
they  drew  his  story. 

As  I  am  to  a  Bantam,  the  Big  Man  was  to 
the  other  men  of  the  country.  And  if  they  were 
surprised  at  his  bigness,  he  was  astonished  at 
their  smallness.  For  he  came  from  a  time  when 

all  were  as  big  as  he.    A  hundred  and  a  hundred 

115 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

years  before  he  had  hunted  with  his  companions, 
and  he  was  then  called,  not  Big  Man,  but  Little 
Fawn. 

And  one  day — a  hundred  and  a  hundred  years 
ago  it  was — he  had  gone  to  chase  a  deer.  The  deer 
fled  into  a  cave.  He  followed  with  his  hounds  and 
his  sword,  his  trumpet  and  his  missile-ball.  He 
went  astray  and  fell  asleep  in  the  Cave.  And  when 
he  wakened  up,  his  hounds  were  heaps  of  dust 
beside  him.  He  went  into  the  world,  and  he  found 
that  his  companions  were  dead  for  a  hundred  and 
a  hundred  years  and  that  the  men  of  the  earth 
had  become  smaller  and  smaller.  In  the  Cave 
he  left  his  sword  and  his  trumpet  and  his  missile- 
ball. 

The  Cock  put  his  two  feet  on  the  ground  and 
shook  his  red  comb  from  over  his  left  to  over  his 
right  eye.  Then  said  he,  Everyone  in  the  house 
was  friendly  to  Little  Fawn  except  one  person — 
Murrish  the  Cook-woman.  From  the  first  day 
he  came  there  were  disputes  between  them.  "Big 

men  have  big  appetites,"  said  she  to  him  the  day 

116 


All  flew  from  the  mountain  except  one  bird  and  he  was  the 
greatest  amongst  them  all. 


THE  GIANT  AND  THE  BIRDS 

he  came,  "and  so  to-night  I  will  give  you  two 
eggs  for  your  supper."  But  when  she  handed  him 
the  eggs  Little  Fawn  said  "It  was  not  the  eggs 
of  the  hedge-sparrow  we  were  wont  to  eat  in  my 
time."  "Eggs  of  the  hedge-sparrow!"  said  Mur- 
rish,  "I  have  handed  you  the  biggest  eggs  laid 
by  the  best  hens  in  the  country."  "In  my  time 
there  were  bigger  eggs  in  the  nest  of  the  hedge- 
sparrow,"  said  Little  Fawn. 

The  next  day  she  gave  him  a  barley-cake  for 
his  breakfast.  He  ate  it  and  then  sent  the  boy — 
Ardan  was  his  name — to  ask  what  else  she  was 
going  to  give  him. 

"Give  him!"  said  Murrish  the  Cook-woman, 
"I  have  given  him  a  whole  barley  cake,  and  that 
is  enough  for  two  men's  breakfasts." 

"Tell  her,"  said  Little  Fawn,  "that  I  often  saw 
an  ivy-leaf  that  was  as  big  as  her  barley  cake." 

"Tell  him,"  said  Murrish  the  Cook- woman, 
"that  I  am  not  here  to  listen  to  old  mens'  ro- 
mances." 

Now  when  he  heard  that  his  words  were  taken 

as  old  men's  romances  Little  Fawn  was  an  angry 

119 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

man.  He  was  hungry,  for  the  food  he  got  did  not 
stay  his  appetite,  but  what  Murrish  said  in  doubt 
of  his  word  gave  him  more  hurt  than  his  hunger 
did.  For  in  his  day  and  amongst  his  companions 
a  lie  was  never  told  and  nothing  a  man  said  was 
ever  doubted. 

The  next  day  he  sent  back  the  dish  for  more 
butter. 

"Tell  him,"  said  Murrish  the  cook- woman, 
"that  I  put  a  whole  pat  of  butter  on  his  dish — 
enough  to  do  two  men  for  two  days." 

"Tell  her,"  said  Little  Fawn,  "that  often  I  saw 
a  rowan  berry  that  was  bigger  as  her  pat  of  butter." 

"The  child  just  out  of  the  cradle  would  not  be- 
lieve that  story,"  said  Murrish  the  cook- woman. 

She  sent  him  a  quarter  of  mutton  for  his 
dinner.  Little  Fawn  told  Ardan  to  ask  Murrish 
for  more,  as  the  dinner  she  gave  him  left  him 
hungry  still. 

"Did  he  not  get  a  whole  quarter  of  mutton  for 
his  dinner?"  said  Murrish. 

"A   whole  quarter  of   mutton,   did   she   say?" 

said  Little  Fawn.     "Often  I  saw  a  quarter  of  a 

120 


THE  GIANT  AND  THE  BIRDS 

blackbird  that  was  bigger  than  her  quarter  of 
mutton." 

"A  quarter  of  a  blackbird  bigger  than  my 
quarter  of  mutton!  Tell  him  that  if  he  never  lied 
before,  he  lies  now,"  said  Murrish. 

"Does  she  say  that?"  said  Little  Fawn.  "Then 
I  swear  I  shall  never  rest  in  the  house  nor  be  easy 
in  my  mind  until  I  bring  her  an  ivy  leaf  that  is  as 
big  as  her  barley  loaf,  and  a  rowan  berry  that  is  as 
big  as  her  pat  of  butter,  and  if  I  bring  these,"  said 
he,  "it  may  not  be  needful  for  me  to  get  her  the 
blackbird  that  is  as  big  in  one  quarter  as  the 
quarter  of  mutton  that  she  gave  me  for  my  dinner." 

There  and  then  he  went  from  the  house  and 
Ardan  the  boy  went  with  him.  They  went  east 
and  they  went  west,  they  went  towards  the  north 
and  towards  the  south,  but  no  ivy  leaf  did  they 
find  that  was  as  big  as  a  barley  loaf,  and  no  rowan 
berry  did  they  see  that  was  as  big  as  a  pat  of 
butter.  Little  Fawn  was  troubled  and  down- 
cast. They  came  back  to  the  house,  and  Murrish 
the  Cook-woman  was  pleased  when  she  heard 

from  Ardan  that  they  found  no  ivy  leaf  and  saw 

121 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

no  rowan  berry  that  was  as  big  as  her  barley  loaf 
or  her  pat  of  butter.  "There  is  only  one  thing 
I  can  do  now,"  said  Little  Fawn,"  and  that  is  to 
bring  her  the  blackbird  that  is  as  big  in  one  quarter 
as  the  quarter  of  mutton  she  gave  me  for  my 
dinner.  And  that,"  said  he  to  Ardan,  "will  take 
time  and  trouble  and  the  meeting  of  danger  to 
bring  about." 

"Time  and  trouble,"  said  the  Feather-legged 
Hen,  "time  and  trouble!" 

"Why  did  he  say  time  and  trouble,  O  Top  of 
Wisdom?"  said  the  Blue  Hen. 

"Hush  now,"  said  the  Little  Slate-colored  Hen 
that  was  the  Cock's  mother.  "Hush  now,  and  let 
the  Hero-son  of  my  heart  tell  what's  best  in  the 
story.  ..." 

"Little  Fawn  was  an  old  man,  white-haired  and 
feeble  when  he  came  to  the  house,"  said  the  Cock, 
and  now  he  was  nearly  blind.  His  mind  would 
not  be  at  rest,  he  told  Ardan,  until  he  brought 

to  Murrish  and  showed  her  a  blackbird  that  was  as 

122 


big  in  one  quarter  as  the  quarter  of  mutton  she 
gave  him  for  his  dinner.  "But  before  I  can  take 
that  blackbird,"  said  he,  "I  must  have  a  hound. 
There  is  a  hound  in  the  yard,  but  I  have  tried 
her  and  found  she  is  weak  and  fearful.  She  will 
have  puppies,  and  one  of  her  puppies,  maybe,  will 
do."  And  he  told  Ardan  to  tell  him  when  the 
puppies  came  to  the  hound  that  was  in  the  yard. 

Then  one  day  Ardan  came  and  told  him  that 
there  was  a  litter  of  puppies  with  the  hound. 
"That  is  well,"  said  Little  Fawn,  "and  in  a  while 
we  will  try  if  one  has  the  strength  and  courage 
enough  to  help  us  to  take  the  blackbird." 

He  told  Ardan  what  to  do.  He  was  to  take 
the  skin  that  had  been  stripped  off  a  dead  horse 
and  he  was  to  nail  this  skin  upon  a  door  in  the 
yard.  Then  he  was  to  do  a  curious  thing.  He  was 
to  take  up  each  puppy  and  fling  it  against  the 
door. 

Ardan  did  all  this  and  Little  Fawn  stood  by 
and  heard  the  puppies  yowling  as  they  fell  on 
the  ground.  They  scampered  away.  Then  he 

heard  nothing  except  Ardan's  laugh. 

123 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

"Why  are  you  laughing,  my  boy?"  said  Little 
Fawn. 

"I  laugh  to  see  what  the  last  puppy  is  doing," 
said  Ardan. 

"And  what  is  he  doing?"  said  Little  Fawn. 

"He  has  not  fallen  to  the  ground  like  the  others. 
He  has  caught  hold  of  the  horseskin  with  his  teeth 
and  he  is  holding  on  to  it." 

"That  puppy  will  do,"  said  Little  Fawn.  "He 
has  strength  and  courage.  Take  him  and  rear 
him  away  from  the  others,  and  when  he  comes  to 
his  full  strength  you  and  I  will  take  him  to  hunt 
the  blackbird  that  is  as  big  in  one  quarter  as  the 
quarter  of  mutton  Murrish  the  Cook-woman  gave 
me  for  my  dinner.  We  must  make  our  word  good 
this  time,  good  lad."  Ardan  took  away  the  puppy 
(Conbeg  they  called  him)  from  the  others  and 
reared  him  up.  Little  Fawn  tested  his  strength 
and  courage  in  many  ways.  At  length  he  was 
satisfied.  One  day  he  put  a  leash  on  Conbeg  and 
he  told  the  boy  to  come  with  him.  Little  Fawn 
and  Ardan  and  Conbeg  the  young  hound  went 

away  from  the  house. 

124 


THE  GIANT  AND  THE  BIRDS 

"Tis  the  best  part  of  the  story,"  said  the 
Little  Slate-colored  Hen  that  was  the  Cock's 
mother. 

"It  is,  it  is,"  said  the  Feather-legged  Hen. 

"And  how  well  he  tells  it,  the  Top  of  Wisdom," 
said  the  Blue  Ben. 

I  tell  it  as  my  father  told  me  and  as  his  father 
told  him,"  said  the  Cock  changing  legs.  "The 
first  place  they  went  was  into  the  Cave  where  the 
Big  Man  had  lain  for  a  hundred  and  a  hundred 
years.  They  found  there  the  heap  of  dust  that 
was  his  two  hounds,  and  they  found  too  the  missile- 
ball  of  brass  and  the  trumpet  and  the  great  sword. 
They  left  the  Cave  and  they  turned  south,  and 
they  went  on  and  on  till  they  came  to  the  mountain 
that  is  called  Slieve-na-Mon.  The  boy  and  the 
man  and  the  hound  rested  themselves  for  a  while 
on  the  level  on  the  top  of  the  mountain. 

Then  Little  Fawn  told  Ardan  to  take  the 
trumpet  and  put  it  to  his  mouth.  He  blew  on  the 
trumpet.  O  louder  than  ever  I  crowed  was  the 

noise  he  made  on  that  trumpet.     The  trees  that 

125 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

were  growing  on  the  mountain  top  shook  at  the 
sound. 

"Blow  again,"  said  Little  Fawn. 

And  Ardan  blew  again  and  he  blew  louder. 

"Now  look  into  the  sky,"  said  Little  Fawn, 
"'and  tell  me  what  you  see  coming  towards  us." 

Ardan  looked  for  a  long  time,  and  at  last  he 
saw  what  he  thought  was  a  cloud  coming  towards 
the  mountain-top.  And  then  he  saw  that  the 
cloud  was  a  flock  of  birds.  They  came  to  the 
mountain-top  and  lighted  on  the  ground — Peewits, 
Blackbirds,  Starlings,  Finches,  Linnets — and  each 
was  bigger  than  any  bird  he  had  ever  seen.  The 
birds  were  hardly  afraid  of  the  hound,  but  Conbeg 
went  amongst  them  and  drove  them  away. 

And  then  another  cloud  was  seen  coming 
across  the  sky,  and  this  cloud  came  to  be  a  flock 
of  birds  too,  and  they  came  to  the  mountain-top 
and  lighted  on  the  ground — Linnets,  Finches,  Starl- 
ings, Blackbirds,  Peewits — and  each  bird  was  bigger 
than  the  birds  in  the  first  flock.  "Loose  the  hound 
on  them,"  said  Little  Fawn.  Ardan  unslipped 

Conbeg  and  the  hound  went  amongst  the  birds. 

126 


THE  GIANT  AND  THE  BIRDS 

But  they  were  not  afraid  and  they  attacked  the 
hound,  and  only  his  strength  and  courage  was  so 
great  they  would  have  driven  him  off  the  moun- 
tain-top. 

They  rose  up  and  they  flew  away,  and  as  they 
did  another  flock  of  birds  came  towards  the  moun- 
tain-top. They  lighted  on  the  ground — Peewits, 
Blackbirds,  Starlings,  Finches,  Linnets — tremen- 
dous birds.  Ardan  loosed  Conbeg  on  them.  Then 
with  beaks  open  and  claws  outstretched  they  flew 
at  Ardan  and  Little  Fawn.  Little  Fawn  took  his 
great  sword  in  hand  and  he  attacked  them  with 
such  strength  that  the  great  birds  flew  off. 

All  flew  from  the  mountain  except  one  bird. 
He  was  a  Blackbird  and  the  greatest  amongst 
them  all.  When  Ardan  told  Little  Fawn  that  this 
bird  was  left  alone  on  a  rock  the  Big  Man  told 
him  to  unloose  Conbeg. 

The  hound  dashed  at  the  Blackbird  but  the 
blackbird  flew  at  him  and  attacked  him  with  beak 
and  claws.  With  a  sweep  of  his  wing  he  threw 
Conbeg  on  the  ground.  Then  he  rose  up  in  the 

air   and   flew  towards   Ardan   and   Little   Fawn. 

127 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

"You  will  escape  him,"  said  Ardan,  "but  me  he 
will  kill  as  he  has  killed  Conbeg. "  "Put  the  mis- 
sile-ball into  my  hand  and  guide  my  aim,"  said 
Little  Fawn.  Ardan  put  the  missile-ball  of  brass 
into  the  Big  Man's  hand  and  guided  his  aim. 
Little  Fawn  threw  the  missile-ball  and  the  Black- 
bird fell  down  on  the  ground.  But  the  bird  was 
not  killed. 

"A  frightening  tale,  a  frightening  tale,"  said  the 
Blue  Hen. 

"So  it  is,  so  it  is,"  said  the  Feather-legged  Hen. 

"But  you  have  done  well  to  tell  the  Hens  the 
story,  Hero-son  of  my  heart,"  said  the  Little 
Slate-colored  Hen  that  was  the  Cock's  mother. 

"More  has  to  be  told,"  said  the  Cock,  "and  it 
is  needful  that  it  should  be  told  now.  Murrish 
the  Cook-woman  was  in  the  kitchen.  In  dashed 
Conbeg  the  hound,  his  eyes  blazing  with  the  fierce- 
ness of  the  chase.  Murrish  was  so  frightened  that 
she  ran  to  the  door.  And  coming  to  the  door  she 
saw  Little  Fawn  with  a  net  on  his  shoulder.  He 

came  into  the  house  and  he  put  the  net  on  the 

128 


THE  GIANT  AND  THE  BIRDS 

floor,  and  he  showed  Murrish  what  was  in  the  net 
— a  tremendous  bird — a  Blackbird  that  was  as 
big  in  one  quarter  as  the  quarter  of  mutton  she 
had  on  the  table.  And  when  the  net  was  laid 
down  on  the  ground  the  Blackbird  flew  up  and  he 
carried  the  middle  of  the  roof  away  with  him  as 
he  flew  through  it  and  he  tumbled  beams  and 
rafters  down  upon  Murrish.  My  grandfather 
saw  the  Blackbird  flying  towards  the  mountain 
that  is  called  Slieve-na-Mon,  and  my  grandfather 
told  my  father  who  told  me."  "You  spoke  the 
truth  when  you  said  that  you  saw  a  blackbird  as 
big  in  one  quarter  as  the  quarter  of  mutton  I  gave 
you  for  your  dinner,"  said  Murrish  the  cook- 
woman  to  Little  Fawn.  "And  I  believe  you  when 
you  say  you  saw  an  ivy  leaf  as  big  as  my  barley 
loaf  and  a  rowan  berry  as  big  as  my  pat  of  butter." 
"I  would  only  show  you,"  said  Little  Fawn  "that 
the  men  I  lived  amongst  had  truth  on  their  lips 
as  they  had  strength  in  their  hands  and  courage 
in  their  hearts. 

And  from  that  day  Little  Fawn  and  Murrish 

the  Cook-woman  lived  in  peace  and  good  fellow- 

129 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

ship,  and  Ardan  and  Conbeg  grew  up  together 
and  became  famous,  one  and  the  other.  They 
lived  happy  for  long,  but  as  the  books  say. — 

The  end  of  every  ship  is  drowning, 
The  end  of  every  kiln  is  burning, 
The  end  of  every  feast  is  wasting, 
The  end  of  every  laugh  is  sighing. 

And  if  they  were  here  once,  they  are  here  no  more. 
"And  if  they  are  not,  we  are,"  said  the  Slate- 
colored  Hen  that  was  the  Cock's  mother.  "We're 
here,"  said  she,  "and  the  earth,  I  promise  you, 
will  shake  under  your  feet  to-morrow,  no  matter 
where  you  crow,  Hero-son  of  my  heart." 


The  Sea-Maiden  who  became 
a  Sea-Swan 


The  Sea-Maiden  who  became  a 
Sea-Swan 

HPHE  Sea-Swan  told  the  story 
to  the  pigeons  of  the  rock, 
and  the  Boy  Who  Knew  What  the 
Birds  said  heard  every  word  of 
it.  I  was  once  a  Sea-Maiden,  she 
said,  and  my  name  was  Eevil, 
and  I  was  known  through  all  the 
Kingdoms  that  are  Under-Wave 
for  my  beautiful  hair — my  long, 
beautiful,  green  hair.  Something 
was  in  me  that  made  me  want  to 
dance,  and  I  used  to  rise  up 
through  the  water,  and  dance  on 
the  shore  of  the  island  that  is 
called  Hathony. 

Mananaun,  as  you,  creatures, 
know,    is  Lord    of  the  Sea,  and 
what  he  commands  in  the  King- 
doms-Under-Wave  has  to   be.     Now  Mananaun 

133 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

made  a  promise  to  a  King  of  an  Earth-Kingdom, 
and  the  promise  was  that  he  would  give  this  King 
whatever  he  asked  for.  The  King  died  according 
to  the  ways  of  men,  and  his  son,  whose  name  was 
Branduv,  came  to  rule  him. 

Branduv  called  Mananaun  out  of  the  sea,  and 
he  asked  that  he  renew  the  promise  he  had  made 
to  his  father.  The  Lord  of  the  Sea  did  not  want 
a  promise  to  lapse  because  of  the  death  of  a  man, 
and  he  renewed  it  to  the  man's  son.  Then  Mana- 
naun told  him  he  would  take  him  and  show  him 
the  Kingdoms  of  the  Sea  and  whatever  he  saw 
that  he  desired  there  would  be  given  to  him.  He 
took  him  in  his  boat  of  glass  "The  Ocean  Sweeper" 
to  visit  the  Kingdoms  of  the  Sea. 

They  came  to  Moy  Mell,  the  Plain  of  Pleasure, 
and  there  Mananaun  gave  Branduv  a  branch  of 
everlasting  blossoms;  they  came  to  another  King- 
dom and  there  Mananaun  gave  him  a  sword  that 
was  the  best  wrought  in  the  world;  they  came  to 
a  third  Kingdom  and  there  Mananaun  gave  him 

a  pair  of  hounds  that  could  run  down  the  silver- 

134 


THE  SEA-MAIDEN  WHO  BECAME  A  SWAN 

antlered  stag.    But  as  yet  Branduv  the  King  had 
asked  no  gift  from  Mananaun. 

They  came  to  Mananaun 's  own  Kingdom, 
Silver-Cloud  Plain,  and  there  Branduv  was  left 
alone  while  Mananaun  drank  the  Ale  of  the  Ever- 
Living  Ones.  The  King  saw  from  the  shores  of 
Silver-Cloud  Plain  "The  Ocean  Sweeper,"  and 
he  directed  that  the  boat  bring  him  to  the  island. 
And  the  boat  travelled  as  the  one  in  it  wished. 

Only  one  thing  had  ever  made  me  fearful  of 
dancing  on  the  shore  of  the  Island  of  Hathony— 
that  was  the  presence  there  of  a  pair  of  Ravens. 
These  Ravens  had  once  been  Sea-maidens,  but  they 
had  desired  men  for  husbands,  and  they  had  gone 
to  them.  The  men  forsook  them,  and  they  had 
become  first  Witches  and  afterwards  Ravens.  Ever 
since  their  change  they  wished  harm  to  the  Maid- 
ens of  the  Sea.  I  had  been  frightened  of  them, 
but  now  I  had  seen  them  flapping  about  so  often 
that  I  was  no  longer  or  I  was  only  a  little,  afraid. 

I  came  up  through  the  sea  and  I  danced  upon 
the  shore  of  the  island,  and  the  play  of  the  waves 

was  in  my  dance,  and  my  long  soft  green  hair 

135 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

fell  over  my  foam- white,  foam  soft  body.  I 
danced  on,  O  my  listeners,  and  as  no  one  had  ever 
seen  me  looked  upon,  I  thought  no  one  looked 
upon  me  now. 

But  this  King  of  the  earthly  Kingdom  saw  me. 
He  saw  me  as  I  danced  by  the  waves,  and  I  was 
the  fairest  thing  he  had  ever  looked  upon.  At 
first  he  was  all  wonder  and  no  robber's  thoughts 
were  in  his  mind.  But  the  Ravens  came  to  him. 
One  perched  on  one  shoulder  and  one  perched  on 
the  other,  and  one  said  "  If  you  carry  Eevil  off  you 
will  have  the  fairest  wife  in  all  the  world,"  and  the 
other  said  "If  you  leave  her  here  you  will  never 
look  on  anything  as  fair  again." 

The  Ravens  flapped  before  him  to  guide  him  to  a 
place  in  the  dark  rocks  where  he  might  hide  and 
to  which  I  might  come.  He  followed  where  they 
led.  But  I  saw  his  shadow  on  a  rock.  I  drew 
back  and  the  sea  took  me  and  drew  me  into  its 
depths.  "The  sea  has  taken  her,"  said  Branduv 
to  the  Ravens. 

"Mananaun  is  Lord  of  the  Sea,"  said  one  of  the 

Ravens. 

136 


THE  SEA-MAIDEN  WHO  BECAME  A  SWAN 

"And  Mananaun  has  promised  you  a  gift,  and 
he  cannot  refuse  what  you  will  ask,"  said  the 
other  Raven. 

Then  the  Ravens  flapped  away  and  Mananaun 


came  to 
King  was 
"You  have 
for  a  gift," 
ana  u  n, 
o  f  what 
b  ef or e  I 
back  to 
island." 
Branduv, 
ask  is  that 
upon  me 


where  the 
standing, 
asked  m  e 
said  Man- 
"  think  now 
you  desire 
take  you 
your  own 
Then  said 
"What  I 
you  bestow 
the  Sea- 


maiden who  was  dancing  here,  Eevil." 

Mananaun  in  anger  lifted  his  spear.  But  then 
he  remembered  he  was  bound  by  a  promise  to 
Branduv.  '  He  lowered  the  spear  he  had  raised.  "I 
will  give  you  any  other  gift  you  ask,"  said  he,  "even 
my  own  boat  "'The  Ocean  Sweeper.' ' 

"I  hold  you  to  your  promise,"  said  Branduv, 

137 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

"and  I  declare  to  you  that  I  shall  take  no  other 
gift  unless  it  be  the  maiden  who  was  here  dancing 
by  the  sea." 

"It  must  be  then  that  I  give  her  you,"  said  Man- 
anaun,  and  his  face  was  dark. 

Down  he  went  to  the  Kingdom-Under-Wave 
and  he  came  to  the  black  mansion  where  lived  the 
Seven  Spinning  Women  of  the  Sea.  He  spoke 
as  speaks  a  King  who  has  a  hard  thing  to  do. 
"A  law  has  to  be  broken,"  said  he,  "What  law, 
Lord?"  said  the  Spinning  Women.  "The  law 
that  saves  our  Maidens  from  taking  part  in  the 


THE  SEA-MAIDEN  WHO  BECAME  A  SWAN 

stormy  lives  of  men."  "We  would  rather  that 
anything  else  but  this  should  happen,  Lord,'* 
said  the  Seven  Spinning  Women.  "This  thing 
must  happen,"  said  Mananaun,  "and  the  Maiden 
Eevil  must  go  to  Branduv  the  King."  "She  must 
be  prepared  for  this,"  said  the  Seven  Spinning 
Women. 

They  came  to  me  and  they  told  me  that  the 
man  whose  shadow  I  had  seen  on  the  rock  now 
claimed  me  for  his  wife  and  that  Mananaun  would 
not  gainsay  him.  When  I  heard  this,  O  my  lis- 
teners, the  life  nearly  left  me. 

This  comfort  the  Seven  Spinning  Women  gave 
me:  I  was  to  stay  on  his  island  so  that  I  might 
become  used  to  the  earthly  kingdom,  but  that  I 
was  not  to  see  Branduv  until  the  green  had  left 
my  hair  and  the  brown  that  the  sun  makes  had 
come  into  my  cheeks.  So  I  came  to  Branduv's 
island.  I  lived  by  the  sea-shore  and  the  women  of 
the  island  attended  me. 

How  different  was  this  earthly  land  from  the 
Kingdom-Tinder- Wave.  With  us  there  was  but 

the  one  mild  season,  the  one  mild  light.     Here 

139 


there  was  glaring  day  and  terrible  darkness, 
bitter  winds  and  hot  beams  of  the  sun.  With 
us  there  were  songs  and  tales,  but  the  songs  were 
about  love  or  about  the  beautiful  things  we  had 
seen.  Here  the  tales  and  songs  were  about  battles 
and  forays  and  slaying  with  the  sword.  What  they 
told  of  their  loves  was  terrible,  so  much  violence 
and  unfaithfulness  was  in  them. 

The  soft  green  tints  were  going  out  of  my  hair 
and  the  sun  was  putting  brownness  in  my  cheeks. 
Soon  my  hair  would  be  wheaten-colored  like  the 
hair  of  the  women  of  the  islands  and  my  cheeks 
would  be  brown  like  theirs.  And  then  the  day 
would  come  when  I  should  have  to  be  with  the 
man  whom  I  looked  upon  as  my  enemy. 

I  used  to  stay  by  the  shore  and  speak  with  the 
birds  that  came  in  from  the  sea,  for  I  knew  their 
language.  Never  again  could  I  go  back  to  the 
Kingdom-Under-Wave.  Green  shade  after  green 
shade  left  my  hair,  brown  tint  after  brown  tint 
came  into  my  cheeks,  and  what  could  I  do  but 
envy  the  birds  that  could  make  their  flight  from 
the  islands  of  men.  And  when  the  green  had 

140 


I  put  it  to  my  lips,  I  drank  it  when  he  took  a  step  towards  me. 


THE  SEA-MAIDEN  WHO  BECAME  A  SWAN 

nearly  gone  altogether  from  my  hair  I  thought  of  a 
desperate  thing  I  might  do. 

I  sent  a  message  to  my  sisters,  and  I  sent  it  by 
many  birds,  so  that  if  they  did  not  get  it  by  one 
they  might  get  it  by  another.  And  I  asked  in  my 
message  that  they  send  me  a  draft  from  the  Well 
under  the  Sea,  and  that  they  send  it  in  the  cup  that 
the  Seven  Spinning  Women  guarded.  It  would 
be  terrible  for  any  of  my  sisters  to  come  to  Bran- 
duv's  island  with  the  draft  and  the  cup,  but  I 
begged  that  they  would  do  it  for  me. 

The  days  went  by  and  the  green  color  was  now 
only  a  shade  in  my  hair,  and  brownness  was  on 
my  cheeks,  and  the  women  said  "Before  this  old 
moon  is  gone  our  King  will  come  here  to  wed 

you." 

Then  one  day  I  found  on  the  shore  the  cup  that 
my  sisters  had  brought  and  the  draft  from  the 
Secret  Well  was  in  it.  I  took  the  cup  in  my  hands 
and  I  brought  it  where  I  lived.  "Come  to  us," 
said  the  women,  "so  that  we  may  undo  your  hair 
and  tell  the  King  when  he  may  come  to  wed  you." 

They  loosened  my  hair  and  then  they  said  "there 

143 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

is  no  shade  of  green  here  at  all.     Bid  the  King 
come  as  early  as  he  likes  to-morrow." 

4 

I  lay  that  night  with  the  cup  beside  me.  When 
I  rose  I  knew  that  day  I  should  drink  from  the 
cup  my  sisters  had  sent  me — drink  the  draft  that 
would  change  me  into  what  I  wished  to  be — a  bird 
of  the  sea. 

And  while  I  sat  with  the  cup  beside  me  and  my 
hair  spread  out,  Branduv,  the  King  of  the  Island, 
came  to  the  door  of  the  house.  It  may  have  been 
that  I  was  becoming  used  to  the  sight  of  people  of 
the  earthly  kingdoms,  for,  as  I  looked  upon  him 
he  did  not  seem  terrible  to  me.  He  looked  noble, 
I  thought,  and  eager  to  befriend  me  and  love  me. 
But  the  cup  was  in  my  hands  when  he  came  to  the 
door.  I  put  it  to  my  lips  when  he  entered  the  house. 
I  drank  it  when  he  took  a  step  towards  me.  And 
thereupon  I  became  what  I  had  wished  to  be — 
a  Sea-Swan. 

O  my  listeners!  Maybe  it  would  have  been  well 
for  me  if  I  had  wed  that  King,  and  be  now  as  the 
women  of  the  islands.  For  now  as  I  fly  over  the 

sea  the  King's  look  comes  before  me,  and  I  think 

144 


THE  SEA-MAIDEN  WHO  BECAME  A  SWAN 

that  he  was  eager  to  befriend  me  and  eager  to  love 
me.  So  I  am  not  content  when  I  am  flying  over 
the  sea.  And  I  am  lonely  when  I  am  on  these 
islands,  for  I  am  now  a  Swan,  and  what  has  a 
Swan  to  do  with  the  lives  of  men? 

Such  was  the  story  that  the  Sea-Swan  told  the 
pigeons  of  the  rock,  and  the  Boy  who  knew  what 
the  Birds  said  heard  it  all,  and  remembered  every 
word  of  it. 


What  the   Peacock  and  the 
Crow  Told  Each  Other 


What  The  Peacock  and  the  Crow  Told 
Each  Other  When  the  Crow  Came 
to  Steal  the  Peacock's  Feathers 

Said  the  Lapwing  "Crow, 
I  never  fyave  seen 
Such  a  one  as  you, 
Such  a  one  as  you 
For  stealing  eggs." 

Said  the  Crow  "Caw,  caw, 
I  never  have  seen 
Such  a  one  myself, 
And  I  am,  I  am  sure 
Longer  in  the  world." 

rpHEN  the  Crow  flew  away 
and  the  Lapwing  went  on 
complaining. 

The  Crow  flew  away  and 
he  came  to  where  the  Pea- 
cock was  walking  in  the 
King's  Garden.  He  asked  the 

Peacock  did  he  ever  listen  to  stories. 

149 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

"No,"  said  the  Peacock  as  he  mounted  the 
steps  of  the  terrace.  "No.  Certainly  not.  I  do 
not  demean  myself  by  listening  to  any  of  the 
stories  they  tell  down  below  there."  He  spread 
out  his  tail,  and,  that  he  might  view  his  own  mag- 
nificence, he  turned  his  blue,  shining  neck. 

Hoodie  the  grey-headed  Crow  with  the  bright 
sharp  eyes  hopped  after  him. 

"Jewels!  Kings!  Magicians!  Palaces!  Dragons!" 
What  do  geese,  grouse  and  farmyard  fowl  know 
of  such  things?  And  yet  they  presume  to  tell 
stories!  Tell  stories  that  have  nothing  in  them 
of  Jewels,  Kings,  Magicians,  Palaces,  or  Dragons! " 

"Nothing  at  all  about  such  things,"  said  Hoodie 
the  Crow,  as  he  plucked  a  feather  out  of  the  Pea- 
cock's tail. 

"Yet  they  will  not  listen  to  me,"  said  Purpur- 
purati  the  Peacock.  "They  affect  even  to  scorn 
my  voice!  They  pretend  that  it  is  less  resonant 
than  the  cock  in  the  farmyard  and  less  musical 
than  the  bird's  that  sings  at  night. 

"They'd  say  anything,"  said  Hoodie  the  Crow, 

keeping  behind  the  Peacock's  tail. 

150 


THE  PEACOCK  AND  THE  CROW 

Purpurpurati  the  Peacock  mounted  higher  on 
the  terrace.  "I  shall  walk  before  the  statue  of 
the  beautiful  Queen  yonder,"  he  said,  "and  I  shall 
tell  you  a  story.  The  reason  that  I  shall  tell  you 
is  that  the  Queen  always  listens  to  me.  But  I 
would  have  her  think  that  it  is  to  you  that  I  am 
telling  the  story." 

"I'll  listen  to  you,"  said  Hoodie  the  Crow  and  he 
plucked  another  feather  out  of  the  Peacock's  tail. 

"When  the  Queen  has  been  pleased  with  the 
sight  of  my  tail,  I  shall  begin,"  said  Purpurpurati, 
and  he  spread  out  his  tail.  Hoodie  the  Crow 
plucked  out  three  feathers. 

"How  pleased  she  looks,"  said  he. 

"Yes,  she  is  always  pleased  by  my  appear- 
ance," the  Peacock  said,  and  he  turned  round  and 
walked  the  other  way. 

"Did  I  ever  tell  you,"  said  Hoodie,  hiding  the 
feathers  behind  a  bush.  "Did  I  ever  tell  you 
how  the  Pigeon  went  to  the  Crow  to  learn  the  art 
of  nest-making?" 

"I  do  not  know  about  such  things,"  said  Pur- 
purpurati the  Peacock. 

151 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

"I'll  tell  you  and  then  you'll  know,"  said  Hoodie 
the  Crow. 

The  Crow  is  the  Master-builder  among  the  Birds  and 

so  it  was  to  the         ^- --^          Crow    that    the 

Pigeon  went  to     f  N.       learn  the  art  of 

nest-making.  /  /S^r^\  \  "We  begin  with 
the  sticks,"  said  j  ml1^*!  ]  ^ne  Crow.  "I 

know,"  said  the  I  >^\  I  Pigeon.  "First 
we  take  one  \  i^*§Vd/  stick  and  lay  it 

lengthwise."  "I  ^^S^^^^L  know,"  said  the 
Pigeon.  "Then  "^^WS^  we  put  a  stick 

across  it,"    said  ^1|L    ^e    Crow.     "I 

know,"  said  the  "^*  Pigeon.     "And 

then  we  put  another  stick  lower  down."  said  the  Crow. 
"I  know,"  said  the  Pigeon.  "Then  we  put  another 
stick  lengthwise,"  "I  know,"  said  the  Pigeon.  "Mu- 
sha,"  said  the  Crow,  "If  you  know  so  much,  why  do 

you  come  here  at         ^^ ^       all?     Away  with 

you!     Fly  home    x$f  \    now    aQd    build 

the  nest  your-  $||M  /£;fcr\  \  se^-"  The  Pigeon 
flew  home,  but  ^F^^^^>,^  J  °^  course  he  was 
not  able  to  build  <&jjjjr'*&^$  J  nis  nest,  for  he 
knew  nothing  ^^^^^^j^^^/  about  the  laying 
of  sticks  and  *Wjjjjp*'^r  the  bringing  of 

straws,    and    he       &^  was  too    young 

and  foolish  to  learn  when  he  got  the  chance.  And  that 
is  why  the  Pigeon  to  this  day  cannot  build  a  nest. 

152 


THE  PEACOCK  AND  THE  CROW 

"Why  do  you  tell  such  foolish  stories?"  said 
Purpurpurati  the  Peacock  when  Hoodie  had 
finished. 

"We  have  no  other  stories  in  our  family,"  said 
Hoodie  the  Crow.  "We  don't  know  about  Jewels 
and  Magicians  and  Palaces  and  Kings  and  Drag- 
ons." 

The  Magician,  said  Purpurpurati  the  Pea- 
cock, "The  Magician  lived  in  a  Palace  of  red 
marble  that  was  all  surrounded  by  a  forest  of 
black,  black  trees.  I  lived  there  too  and  I  ate 
golden  grains  out  of  pails  of  silver.  That  was  long 
ago  and  it  was  in  far  India. 

The  Magician  had  precious  stones  of  every  kind 
and  he  would  have  me  walk  beside  him  to  the 
Cavern  where  he  kept  his  precious  stones,  and  as 
he  handled  them  over  he  would  tell  me  of  the 
virtues  that  each  stone  possessed.  And  one  day 
the  Magician  looking  upon  me  said  *  This  Peacock 
I  will  slay,  for  the  beauty  of  his  neck  makes  dull 
my  turquoises  and  the  crest  on  his  head  is  more 
shapely  than  my  Persian  jewel-work/ ' 

"Dear  me,  dear  me!"  said  Hoodie  the  Crow. 

153 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

Hearing  him  say  this,  said  the  Peacock  "I  flew 
into  the  branches  of  a  dark,  dark  tree.  And  as 
I  rested  there  the  fair  lady  who  walked  about  the 
Garden — White-as-a-Pearl  she  was  called  and  she 
was  the  Magician's  daughter — walked  under  the 
dark,  dark  trees,  and  I  saw  that  she  was  weeping. 

I  knew  why  she  wept.  She  wept  for  the  young 
man  whom  her  father  had  imprisoned  in  a  tower. 
This  young  man  was  the  son  of  a  King,  and  the 
Magician  was  his  father's  brother.  And  if  the 
young  man  died  the  Magician  would  become  King 
in  his  brother's  Kingdom.  But  the  lady  White- 
as-a-Pearl  did  not  want  the  young  man  to  die. 

A  little  snow-white  dove  flew  down  from  the 
tower  and  spoke  in  words  to  White-as-a-Pearl 
and  asked  her  what  word  she  had  to  send  to  the 
young  man. 

"'You  must  tell  him  terrible  news,  my  little 
snow  white  dove,'  said  White-as-a-Pearl.  'My 
father  will  have  him  go  forth  to  fight  with  a  dragon. 
And  this  is  a  terrible  dragon.  Every  young  man 
who  has  gone  forth  against  him  has  been  slain.' 

The  little  snow  white  dove  flew  back  to  the 

154 


O  most  beauteous  of  all  the  birds,  do  you  know  of  any  arms 
6y  which  a  hero  can  slay  a  dragon? 


THE  PEACOCK  AND  THE  CROW 

tower  and  the  Princess  White-as-a-Pearl  stood 
under  the  dark,  dark  trees  and  wept  again.  And 
when  she  saw  me  on  my  branch  she  said  'O  most 
beauteous  of  all  the  birds,  do  you  know  of  any 
arms  by  which  a  hero  can  slay  a  terrible  dragon?' 


Then  I  came  down  off  my  branch  and  I  walked 
beside  the  Princess,  and  as  I  walked  beside  her 
I  told  her  the  wonderful  secrets  I  knew." 

"And  what  were  the  secrets,"  said  Hoodie  the 
Crow  plucking  a  last  feather  from  the  peacock's 
tail.  "What  were  the  secrets  anyway?" 

"Can  I  tell  them  to  a  Crow?  "  said  Purpurpurati 
the  Peacock.  But  I  will  tell  them.  I  told  her  the 
secrets  I  had  learnt  from  the  Magician  when  he 
spoke  of  the  virtues  of  his  precious  stones — a  ruby 
in  a  man's  helmet  would  make  a  dragon's  eyes  go 
blind.  A  turquoise  on  his  arm  would  make  a 

dragon's  blood  turn  to  water.     A  sapphire  on  his 

157 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

spear  would  make  a  dragon's  heart  burst  within 
him. 

So  the  Princess  White-as-a-Pearl  went  to  her 
father's  cavern  and  took  the  precious  stones  I 
spoke  of  and  gave  them  to  the  King's  son.  And 
he  went  forth  the  next  day  and  when  he  came  to 
him  the  dragon's  eyes  were  blinded,  and  his  blood 
turned  to  water  and  his  heart  burst  within  him. 
And  the  King's  son  cut  off  his  head  and  brought  it 
into  the  Palace.  Then  the  Magician  fled  amongst 
the  dark,  dark  trees  and  I  was  given  the  red 
marble  palace  to  live  in." 

"I  lived  in  Lapland,"  said  Hoodie  the  Crow. 
"And  who  do  you  think  I  knew  there?" 

"No  one  of  any  dignity,"  said  Purpurpurati 
the  Peacock. 

"I  knew  your  White-as-a-Pearl.  She  had  be- 
come an  old  ugly  witch- woman." 

"Base  crow!"  said  Purpurpurati  and  he  walked 
up  the  steps  and  went  away. 

Then  Hoodie  the  Crow  dressed  himself  in  the 
feathers  he  had  stolen  from  the  Peacock  and 

went  away  and  walked  across  the  field  admiring 

158 


THE  PEACOCK  AND  THE  CROW 

himself.  But  a  Fox  that  had  promised  to  bring  a 
Peacock  to  his  Mother-in-law  saw  Hoodie  the 
Crow  and  stole  up  beside  him  and  caught  him  in 
his  mouth  and  carried  him  away.  And  that  was 
the  end  of  Hoodie  who  was  such  a  clever  crow. 
"This  Peacock  is  very  tough,"  said  the  Fox's 
mother-in-Law  as  she  ate  Hoodie.  "What  would 
your  Ladyship  have?"  said  Rory  the  Fox.  "Pea- 
cock is  always  tough. 


The  Treasure  of  King  Labraid 
Lore 


The   Treasure  of  King  Labraid 
Lore 

INGFISHER-ALL-  BLUE 

used  to  sit  on  the  branch 
that  went  furthest  across  the 
stream  with  his  head  bent  down 
and  looking  as  if  he  were  trying 
to  think  his  head  off.  Only  in 
the  most  lonesome  places,  far 
from  where  the  hens  cackled 
and  the  geese  gabbled  and  the 
cocks  crew,  would  the  Boy  Who 
Knew  What  the  Birds  Said  find 
him.  And  when  he  did  find  him 
Kingfisher-all-blue  would  not 
open  his  beak  to  say  one  word — 
no,  not  even  when  the  Boy 
would  say  "Where  did  you  get 
your  beautiful  color?"  and 
"Why  is  your  beak  so  big, 

little  Kingfisher-all-Blue?" 

163 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

Now  one  day  when  he  had  left  behind  him  the 
hens  that  cackled,  the  geese  that  gabbled  and  the 
cocks  that  crew,  and  had  left  behind  him  too  the 
old  raven  that  built  in  the  lone  tree  he  came  where 
Kingfisher-all-Blue  sat  upon  the  slenderest  branch 
that  went  farthest  across  the  stream.  And  when 
Kingfisher-all-Blue  saw  him  he  lifted  up  his  head 
and  he  fixed  his  eye  upon  him  and  he  cried  out  the 
one  word  "Follow."  Then  he  went  flying  down 
the  stream  as  if  he  were  not  a  bird  at  all  but  a 
streak  of  blue  fire. 

Kingfisher-all-Blue  went  flying  along  the  stream 
and  the  Boy  Who  Knew  What  the  Birds  said  was 
able  to  follow  him.  They  went  on  until  the  stream 
they  followed  came  out  on  the  sand  of  the  sea- 
shore. Then  Kingfisher-all-Blue  seated  himself 
on  a  branch  that  was  just  above  where  the  grains 
of  sand  and  the  blades  of  grass  mixed  with  each 
other  and  he  fixed  his  eye  on  a  mound  of  sand  and 
clay.  And  when  the  Boy  Who  Knew  What  the 
Birds  Said  came  beside  him  Kingfisher-all-Blue 
said  the  one  word  "Find." 

Then  the  Boy  Who  Knew  What  the  Birds  said 

164 


THE  TREASURE  OF  KING  LABRAID  LORC 

began  to  take  the  sand  and  clay  from  the  mound. 
He  worked  all  day  at  it  and  Kingfisher-all-Blue 
sat  on  the  branch  above  and  watched  him.  And 
at  evening,  when  all  the  sand  and  clay  had  been 
taken  away  by  him  the  Boy  Who  Knew  What 
the  Birds  said  came  upon  a  stone  that  was  as  big 
and  as  round  as  the  wheel  of  a  cart. 

And  when  he  had  brushed  away  the  grains  of 
sand  that  was  on  the  round  stone  he  saw  a  writing. 
The  writing  was  in  OGHAM,  but  at  that  time  even 
boys  could  read  OGHAM.  And  the  Ogham  writing 
said  You  HAVE  LUCK  TO  HAVE  SEEN  THIS  SIDE  OF 
THE  STONE  BUT  You  WILL  HAVE  MORE  LUCK 
WHEN  You  SEE  THE  OTHER  SIDE. 

When  he  read  that  he  looked  up  to  where  the 
bird  sat,  but  Kingfisher-all-Blue  only  said  "I  am 
done  with  you  now,"  and  then  he  flew  back  along 
the  stream  like  a  streak  of  blue  fire. 

The  Boy  Who  Knew  What  the  Birds  Said  stayed 
near  the  stone  until  the  dark  was  coming  on.  Then 
he  thought  he  would  go  home  and  in  the  morning 
he  would  speak  to  Pracaun  the  Crow  and  ask  her 

about    the    stone    that    Kingfisher-all-Blue    had 

165 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

brought  him  to  and  what  good  luck  there  was  at 
the  other  side  of  it. 

Pracaun  the  Crow  came  to  the  standing  stone  in 
the  morning  and  ate  the  boiled  potato  that  the  Boy 
Who  Knew  What  the  Birds  Said  brought  her,  and 
then  the  Boy  spoke  to  her  about  the  stone  that 
Kingfisher-all-Blue  had  brought  him  to,  and  he  asked 
what  good  luck  there  was  at  the  other  side  of  it. 

"Kingfisher-all-Blue  has  brought  you  to  good 
luck  that  none  of  the  rest  of  us  could  have  shown 
you,"  said  Pracaun  the  Crow.  "Under  that  round 
stone  is  the  treasure  of  King  Labraid  Lore." 

"Who  was  King  Labraid  Lore  and  what  was 
his  treasure?"  said  the  Boy  Who  Knew  What  the 
Birds  said. 

"I  will  tell  you  first  about  King  Labraid  Lore," 
said  Pracaun  the  Crow.  "He  was  King  of  this  part 
of  the  country  and  of  two  lovely  Islands  that  are 
now  sunken  deep  in  the  sea.  Mananaun  Mac  Lir 
who  is  Lord  of  the  Sea  was  his  friend  and  Labraid 
Lore  would  have  been  a  happy  King  only  for — 
well,  I'll  tell  you  in  a  while  what  troubles  he  had. 

No  one  knew  where  the  King  had  come  from. 

166 


THE  TREASURE  OF  KING  LABRAID  LORC 

He  was  not  born  King  of  this  part  of  the  country 
nor  of  the  lovely  Islands  that  are  now  deep  sunken 
under  the  sea.  Mananaun  who  is  Lord  of  the  Sea 
had  given  him  the  Islands,  or  rather  he  had  given 
him  the  two  keys  that  had  brought  the  Islands  up 
from  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  Two  silver  keys  they 
were,  O  lad.  And  when  they  were  brought  together 
they  struck  each  other  and  rang  like  bells.  And 
"Labraid  Lore  is  King,  King  of  the  two  Fair  Is- 
lands "  is  what  they  chimed  out.  As  long  as  he  held 
the  keys  the  Islands  would  remain  above  the  water. 
But  if  he  put  the  keys  away  the  Islands  would 
sink  back  into  the  sea. 

Once  in  every  month  the  King  had  a  man  killed. 
This  is  how  it  was.  He  would  have  a  man  to  shave 
his  beard  and  to  trim  his  hair.  This  man  never 
came  alive  out  of  the  King's  Castle.  As  soon  as 
the  poor  barber  left  the  King's  chamber  and  passed 
down  the  hall  soldiers  would  fall  upon  him  and  kill 
him  with  their  swords.  Every  time  when  the 
King's  beard  was  shaved  and  his  hair  was  trimmed 
a  man  was  killed — twelve  men  in  a  year,  a  hundred 

and  forty -four  men  in  twelve  years! 

167 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

Now  a  warning  came  to  a  woman  that  her  son 
would  be  called  upon  to  be  the  next  barber  to  the 
King.  She  was  a  widow  and  the  young  man  was 
her  only  son.  She  was  wild  with  grief  when  she 
thought  that  he  would  be  killed  by  the  soldiers' 
swords  as  soon  as  he  had  shaved  the  King's  beard 
and  trimmed  the  King's  hair. 

She  went  everywhere  the  King  rode.  She  threw 
herself  before  him  and  asked  for  the  life  of  her  son. 
And  at  last  the  King  promised  that  no  harm  would 
befall  her  son's  life  if  he  swore  he  would  tell  no 
person  what  he  saw  when  he  shaved  the  King's 
beard  and  trimmed  the  King's  hair.  After  that  he 
would  be  always  the  King's  barber. 

The  widow's  son  came  before  the  King  and  he 
swore  he  would  tell  no  person  what  he  saw  when 
he  shaved  his  beard  and  trimmed  his  hair.  Then 
he  went  into  the  King's  Chamber.  And  when  he 
came  out  from  it  the  King's  soldiers  did  not  fall 
upon  him  and  kill  him  with  their  swords.  The 
widow's  son  went  home  out  of  the  Castle. 

His  mother  cried  over  him  with  joy  at  seeing 

him  back.    The  next  day  he  went  to  work  at  his 

168 


THE  TREASURE  OF  KING  LABRAID  LORC 

trade  and  his  mother  watched  him  and  was  con- 
tented in  her  mind.  But  the  day  after  her  son 
only  worked  by  fits  and  starts,  and  the  day  after 
that  he  did  no  work  at  all  but  sat  over  the  fire 
looking  into  the  burning  coals. 

And  after  that  the  widow's  son  became  sick  and 
lay  on  his  bed  and  no  one  could  tell  what  was  the 
matter  with  him.  He  became  more  and  more  ill 
and  at  last  his  mother  thought  that  he  had  only 
escaped  the  soldiers'  swords  to  come  home  and 
die  in  his  house.  And  when  she  thought  of  that 
she  said  to  herself  that  she  would  go  see  the  Druid 
who  lived  at  the  back  of  the  hill  and  beg  him  to 
come  to  see  her  son  and  strive  to  cure  him.  The 
Druid  came  and  he  looked  into  the  eyes  of  the 
young  man  and  he  said  "He  has  a  secret  upon  his 
mind,  and  if  he  does  not  tell  it  he  will  die. " 

Then  his  mother  told  the  Druid  that  he  had 
sworn  not  to  tell  any  person  what  he  saw  when  he 
shaved  the  King's  beard  and  trimmed  the  King's 
hair,  and  that  what  he  saw  was  his  secret.  Said 
the  Druid  "If  he  wants  to  live  he  will  have  to 

speak  out  his  secret.     But  it  need  not  be  to  any 

169 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 


person.  Let  him  go  to  the  meeting  of  two  roads, 
turn  with  the  sun  and  tell  his  secret  to  the  first 
tree  on  his  right  hand.  And  when  he  feels  he  has 
told  his  secret  your  son  will  get  the  better  of  his 
sickness. " 

When  this  was  told  to  the  young  man  he  got  up 
off  his  bed  and  he  walked 
to  where  two  roads  met. 
He  turned  as  the  sun  turns 
and  he  whispered  into  the 
branches  of  the  first  tree 
on  his  right  hand.  And 
the  secret  that  he  whis- 
pered was  "King  Labraid 
Lore  has  the  ears  of  a 
horse."  Then  he  turned 
from  the  tree  and  he  went 
home.  He  slept,  and  in  the 
morning  when  he  woke  he 
was  well  and  he  went  to 
his  work  and  he  was  happy  and  cheerful. 

But  the  tree  that  he  whispered  his  secret  to  was 
a  willow,  and,  as  you  know,  out  of  the  branches 

170 


THE  TREASURE  OF  KING  LABRAID  LORC 

of  the  willow  the  harp  is  made.  As  the  widow's 
son  went  away  a  Harper  seeking  wood  to  make  a 
new  harp  came  that  way.  He  saw  the  willow  and 
he  knew  that  its  branches  were  just  right  for  the 
making  of  his  harp.  He  cut  them  and  he  bent 
them  and  he  formed  a  harp  from  them.  And 
when  the  harp  was  firmly  fixed  the  Harper  came 
with  it  to  the  King's  Castle. 

The  King  gave  a  feast  so  that  the  first  music 
that  came  from  the  harp  should  be  honored.  He 
made  the  Harper  sit  near  his  own  High  Chair. 
Then,  when  the  feast  was  at  its  height  he  called 
upon  the  Harper  to  stand  up  and  strike  the  first 
music  from  the  new  harp. 

"The  first  music  from  the  new  harp  shall  be 
praise  of  the  King, "  said  the  harper  when  he  stood 
up.  He  drew  his  fingers  across  the  strings  and  all 
listened  for  the  first  music  that  would  come.  But 
the  harp  that  was  made  out  of  the  willow  branches 
that  the  widow's  son  had  whispered  to  murmured 
"Labraid  Lore  has  the  ears  of  a  horse,  Labraid 
Lore  has  the  ears  of  a  horse."  The  King  started 

up  from  his  High  Chair.    The  Harper  threw  down 

171 


the  harp.  Everyone  was  silent  in  the  hall.  Then 
one  voice  was  heard  saying  "It  is  true.  The  King 
Labraid  Lore  has  the  ears  of  a  horse." 

The  King  had  the  man  who  said  it  taken  by  his 
soldiers  and  flung  from  the  top  of  the  Castle.  No 
one  else  spoke.  But  the  next  day  when  he  rode 
abroad  the  King  heard  the  people  behind  the 
hedges  saying  "Labraid  Lore  has  the  ears  of  a 
horse. " 

After  that,  whenever  he  came  near  them,  people 
went  from  him,  and  at  last  no  one  was  left  in  his 
Castle.  And  there  was  no  one  to  take  him  over 
to  the  fair  Islands  that  Mananaun,  Lord  of  the 
Sea,  had  given  him  for  a  possession.  And  there  was 
no  one  to  bring  over  the  fruits  that  grew  on  the 
islands  nor  the  cattle  and  sheep  that  pastured  there. 

Then  the  King  went  to  Mananaun,  Lord  of  the 
Sea,  and  he  offered  him  back  the  keys  Mananaun 
had  given  him — the  silver  keys  that  struck  each 
other  when  they  were  brought  together  and  rang 
like  bells,  chiming  out  "Labraid  Lore  is  King,  is  King 
of  the  two  Fair  Islands."  But  no  gift  that  Mana- 
naun gives  is  ever  taken  back  and  the  keys  were 

172 


"Ernan  is  Lord,  is  Lord  of  the  Fair  Islands." 


THE  TREASURE  OF  KING  LABRAID  LORC 

still  left  with  Labraid  Lore.  Yet  he  thought  he 
would  let  the  keys  go  out  of  his  possession  so  that 
the  Fair  Islands  would  sink  back  into  the  sea. 
But  that  they  might  not  stay  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea  for  ever  he  took  the  keys  and  he  put  them  in 
a  pit  at  the  sea-shore  and  he  covered  the  pit  with 
a  round  stone,  and  knowing  that  it  would  be  only 
a  lucky  person  who  would  come  to  that  stone,  he 
wrote  in  Ogham  writing  on  it  You  HAVE  LUCK 
TO  HAVE  SEEN  THIS  SIDE  OF  THE  STONE  BUT 
You  WILL  HAVE  MORE  LUCK  WHEN  You  SEE 
THE  OTHER  SIDE. 

As  he  left  the  silver  keys  there  the  Fair  Islands 
began  to  sink  in  the  water.  So  slow  were  they  in 
sinking  that  the  cattle  and  sheep  that  pastured 
on  the  islands  were  taken  off  in  boats  and  the 
people  who  lived  in  villages  on  the  Islands  came 
away  with  all  they  owned.  But  at  last  the  Islands 
sank  altogether  out  of  sight.  And  after  they  went 
down  into  the  sea  King  Labraid  Lore  was  seen  no 
more. 

And  you,  O  Boy,  are  the  lucky  one  that  the 

King  hid  the  silver  keys  for.    When  you  take  them 

175 


THE  BOY  WHO  KNEW  WHAT  THE  BIRDS  SAID 

into  your  hands  the  Islands  will  begin  to  rise  above 
the  water  and  when  they  are  altogether  risen  and 
are  called  the  Fair  Islands  again  you  will  be  Lord 
of  them.  And  Kingfisher-all-Blue,  the  one  we 
thought  had  no  care  but  for  himself,  brought  you 
to  this  good  fortune." 

Day  after  day  the  Boy  Who  Knew  What  the 
Birds  Said  went  down  to  the  sea-shore  and  worked 
to  lift  up  the  round  stone  that  was  over  the  pit 
in  which  King  Labraid  Lore  had  put  his  silver 
keys.  And  one  day  he  was  able  to  raise  up  the 
stone.  There  lay  the  great  keys,  shining  in  their 
silver  brightness.  He  took  them  up,  and  when  he 
brought  them  near  each  other  they  struck  together 
and  they  rang  like  bells.  "Mananaun"  was  the 
the  name  they  chimed  out.  And  they  chimed 
again  "Ernan  is  Lord,  is  Lord  of  the  Fair  Islands." 

Looking  out  to  sea,  the  boy  Ernan  saw  waters 
rising  up  as  though  whales  were  spouting  fountains. 
And  the  next  day,  when  he  came  to  the  sea-shore, 
he  saw  that  Islands  had  risen  and  that  they  were 

already  covered  with  green. 

176 


No  longer  he  listened  to  what  the  Birds  said 
but  he  watched  the  Islands  every  day  and  he  saw 
trees  and  grass  come  upon  them.  And  when  the 
people  came  and  said  "Who  can  be  Lord  of  these 
Islands?"  he  held  up  the  silver  keys  and  brought 
them  together  so  that  they  struck  each  other  and 
rang  like  bells.  "Ernan  is  Lord,  Lord  of  the  Fair 
Islands"  was  what  they  chimed  out.  Each  day 
the  Islands  grew  fairer  in  the  sight  of  the  people, 
and  Ernan  was  called,  not  "The  Boy  Who  Knew 
What  the  Birds  Said,"  but  "Ernan,  Lord  of  the 
Fair  Islands. " 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America. 


000045995     8 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  hook  is  DDE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


JUN-20  198(1 


RENEWAL    JUL    5198IT 
JUL7    1980 

&  AUG  2  5  1980 


24139 


3  1158  00599  4149 


s 


